Dali: The Salvador Dali Museum Collection

by Salvador Dalí, A. Reynolds Morse (Foreword by), Robert S. Lubar (Introduction)

Covering some of the major works in the Salvador Dali Museum, this book presents an overview of the career of the controversial surrealist artist, from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol, was a Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia.

Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.

Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on Hitchcock's film Spellbound.

Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."

Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I loved about this, after a really good introduction by Albert Reynolds Morse - he and his wife Eleanor were the founders of this collection, along with a piece written on Dali and Modernism by Professor of Fine Arts Robert S. lubar, is that each piece of art covers most of the page, with only the title and date of each piece added - no other text, which can sometimes annoy me when the images are presented too small. We get oil paintings, drawing, and watercolours, ranging from the years 1917 to 1974, resulting in a dazzling display of Dali's talent. I have to say I'm more of a fan of his surrealist works; not that there's anything wrong with his Monet-like impressionist paintings, or his contributions to Cubism, as they are all superb, it's just I prefer his revolutionary art that really made him one of a kind.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this artist so much, and I was so glad to find a collection of his work.
As far as this book goes . . .
The forward by Reynolds Morse is a nice personal account of his encounters with Dali and enjoyment of his wonderful art. The introduction by Robert S. Lubar is long-winded and pretentious in its use of what I like to call "six dollar words," to the point of being incomprehensible much of the time. Despite that, it still manages to be a little insightful into the motives behind the artist's work.
The real star here, of course, is the art. I cannot praise it enough. I only wish this volume were much larger and included more of his work.
The chronology at the end is informative and appreciated.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been to the Dali Museum. This book is great reminder of everything I saw and everything I didn't. In the beginning, there is an interesting commentary on Dali's work which discusses his impact on the art world and brings to light his unique perspective on how one can view life. Dali challenges us to question our perceptions and to ask three vital questions: 1) What does that represent? 2) What does that mean? 3) What do I see? If you try to answer question three, you'll likely discover that the answer is: You see what you want to see - what you expect to see - and that may or may not be what is really there. Because, just as with Dali's paintings, there is always more to be seen.