ซัลวาดอร์ ดาลิ เรื่องเหนือจริงยิ่งกว่าภาพเหนือจริง

by Stan Lauryssens, นงนุช สิงหเดชะ (translator)

สแตน ลอรีสเซนส์เป็นตัวแทนค้างานศิลปะ เขาทำเงินได้หลายล้านดอลลาร์จากการขายงานศิลปะสมัยใหม่ของคนคนเดียว นั่นคือซัลวาดอร์ ดาลิ ศิลปินวาดภาพแนวเหนือจริง ซึ่งผลงานของเขาเป็นสินค้าฮอตฮิตยอดนิยมของพวกเศรษฐีใหม่ นักลงทุน และพวกนักธุรกิจในเงามืดที่แสวงหาหนทางฟอกเงินผิดกฎหมาย สแตนไม่รังเกียจ เขามองเรื่องนี้ไปอีกแบบหนึ่งและหวังว่าผู้ซื้อก็คงจะมองแบบเดียวกัน ทว่า งานศิลปะของเขากลับมีแหล่งที่มาน่าเคลือบแคลงสงสัย ไม่นานเขาก็ค้นพบว่าแหล่งที่มาที่น่าสงสัยมากที่สุดก็คือตัวดาลิเอง สแตน ลอรีสเซนส์ ได้เข้าไปคลุกคลีใกล้ชิดกับศิลปินและผู้ที่มีส่วนเกี่ยวข้องกับการสร้างงานศิลปะของดาลิ เพียงไม่นานสแตนก็ได้รู้ความลับเกี่ยวกับสตูดิโอของนักวาดภาพที่วาดภาพแทนดาลิ และลายเซ็นปลอมของดาลิที่มีมากมายกว่า 666 แบบ การผลิตภาพวาดจำนวนมากเหล่านี้ทำให้ดาลิและภรรยาชื่อกาล่ามีเงินใช้จ่ายอย่างฟุ่มเฟือย ทั้งหมดนี้ก็เพื่อตอบสนองการใช้ชีวิตอย่างหรูหราของทั้งสองหลังจากที่ความคิดสร้างสรรค์ของดาลิเริ่มฝืดเคือง

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Biography, Crime, True Crime, Memoir, Biography Memoir

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Stan Lauryssens is een Vlaamse schrijver.

Stan Lauryssens in de Nederlandstalige Wikipedia

De boeken van Stan Lauryssens bij boekbeschrijvingen.nl


Stan Lauryssens is a Flemish writer.

Reviews

[Silvéria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Surreal. A palavra no subtítulo resume este livro...ou melhor, este embuste.
O livro não é sobre Salvador Dalí, mas sim sobre Stan Lauryssens...que por acaso vendeu obras de Dalí: as falsas, as verdadeiras e as mais ou menos.
Não há uma linha que separa a realidade da ficção aqui. É triste, tendo em conta a forma como o livro é "vendido".

[Cititoare Calatoare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Destul de rigida si uneori chiar plictisitoare, m-a facut chiar sa imi pierd interesul sau sa-mi piara concentrarea. Noroc ca nu are multe pagini 🫣.

Recenzia completa o gasitit pe pagina mea de instagram @reading_on_my_way

[Todd Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to work in an office located a few blocks from the main branch of the local public library and would wander over during my lunch break occasionally to browse the audiobooks. I’d often make selections on a whim based on the title and cover. True to the old aphorism ... there was no way to really know what I’d gotten until listening to it. I bring this up because, had this been based on an informed decision, I never would have chosen to listen to Dali & I: The Surreal Story by the self-admitted liar, conman and art forger Stan Lauryssens.

The book is basically the story of Lauryssens' career as an art swindler, but he also recounts a number of salacious stories that he supposedly heard from various friends, acquaintances and business associates of the artist. The anecdotes portray Dali as a chronic masturbator, fraud and generally despicable person whose only real skill was conning the art market into paying him millions of dollars for work he didn’t even paint. According to Lauryssens, even Dali’s mustache is fake.

The thing is though, you can’t trust anything Lauryssens writes. He spent time in prison for knowingly selling fake artwork, he was sued over another biography he wrote and forced to admit that it contained untruths and misinformation … and he confesses … repeatedly in the book … to be a lying, unethical scumbag.

Whether it contains any truth or not, the book appears to be just another attempt by Lauryssens to cash in on Dali’s name.

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αν μας ζητούσαν να προσωποποιήσουμε την έννοια του σουρεαλισμού τότε πολύ πιθανόν ο Νταλί ήταν το ιδανικό σύμβολο. Ένας άνθρωπος που προκάλεσε και απασχόλησε με την τέχνη του αλλά και με την προσωπική του ζωή. Ένας άνθρωπος του οποίου η σεξουαλική δραστηριότητα, οι ιδιαιτερότητές του αλλά και οι καλλιτεχνικές του απάτες συζητήθηκαν όσο λίγες. Ένας άνθρωπος, σύμβολο της τέχνης που ωστόσο δεν την αντιμετώπισε ως αναγκαιότητα έκφρασης αλλά, ως ένα μέσο κερδοφορίας το οποίο θα του επέτρεπε να ζει έναν πλούσιο κι έκκλητο βίο, χωρίς περιορισμούς, μαζί με την σύντροφό του, Γκαλά. Τελικά ποιος ήταν ο Νταλί; Ένας μεγάλος καλλιτέχνης ή ένας μεγάλος απατεώνας που όσο περνούσαν τα χρόνια η έμπνευσή του δεχόταν πλήγμα και δεν δίσταζε να εξαπατήσει τον κόσμο προκειμένου να μην χάσει την πολυτέλεια; Η απάντηση έρχεται μέσω του Βέλγου συγγραφέα Stan Lauryssens και του μυθιστορήματός του αυτού.

Ο Lauryssens είναι ένας άνθρωπος που έζησε, τόσο μέσα στην φτώχεια, όσο και μέσα στα πλούτη. Εκεί που άνοιγε τρύπες σε ελβετικά τυριά, βρέθηκε να εργάζεται ως δημοσιογράφος για λογαριασμού γνωστού περιοδικού δημιουργώντας πλαστές συνεντεύξεις διάσημων προσωπικοτήτων και στην συνέχεια, ως σύμβουλος και έμπορος έργων τέχνης. Ο Νταλί υπήρξε παράλληλα γι' αυτόν πηγή κέρδους αλλά και η καταστροφή του. Εκμεταλλευόμενος την ματαιοδοξία, και την αφέλεια αν θέλετε, πλούσιων ανθρώπων που ήθελαν να ξεπλύνουν το αφορολόγητο χρήμα τους κάνοντας μια επένδυση που στο μέλλον θα τους απέφερε ακόμα μεγαλύτερο όφελος, αλλά και την πέραση που είχαν τα έργα του διάσημου καλλιτέχνη, δεν δίστασε, όχι μόνο να πουλήσει αυθεντικά έργα του αλλά, και να εξαπατήσει κόσμο, ικανοποιώντας τις δικές τους επιθυμίες αλλά και την δικιά του ανάγκη για μια πλούσια, εύκολη και πολυταξιδεμένη ζωή.

Όσο περισσότερο κερδισμένος έβγαινε από τον Νταλί, τόσο περισσότερο ο Lauryssens ερχόταν πιο κοντά του. Αυτό είχε σαν αποτέλεσμα να έρθει σε επαφή με ανθρώπους που όχι μόνο γνώριζαν τον Νταλί αλλά, ανυψώθηκαν ή βυθίστηκαν στα τάρταρα εξαιτίας της μισαλλοδοξίας του και των αρρωστημένων παθών του. Έμαθε κι ανακάλυψε πράγματα που, είτε είσαι φίλος της τέχνης είτε όχι, προκαλούν και σοκάρουν. Όχι μόνο υπήρξε ένα διεστραμμένος σεξομανής με ιδιαίτερα γούστα, βρίσκοντας την ικανοποίηση που έψαχνε στον αυνανισμό που προερχόταν από την παρακολούθηση οργιών από άλλους αλλά, ήταν η κύρια αιτία που χιλιάδες πλαστά αντίγραφα και πλαστά πρωτότυπα των έργων του κυκλοφόρησαν στην παγκόσμια αγορά. Όσο περισσότερο έσβηνε η δημιουργικότητά του, τόσο περισσότερο πλαστογραφούσε τον ίδιο του τον εαυτό χρησιμοποιώντας άλλους καλλιτέχνες των οποίων τις δημιουργίες μοσχοπουλούσε ως δικιές του. Σύμφωνα με τον ίδιο αλλά και την Γκαλά, πλαστά ήταν όσα έργα έφεραν την υπογραφή του και ο ίδιος δεν είχε πληρωθεί γι' αυτά, ακόμα και αν δεν προερχόντουσαν από το χέρι του.

Η ιστορία του συγγραφέα δεν είναι προϊόν μυθοπλασίας, όσο σουρεαλιστική κι αν είναι. Δεν στηρίχτηκε σε μυθοπλασίες αλλά, σε γεγονότα και καταστάσεις που ο ίδιος βίωσε ή άκουσε μέσω της αφήγησης τρίτων. Ακριβώς αυτό είναι που την κάνει τόσο συναρπαστική και σε παρασύρει να την διαβάσεις ακόμα κι αν το όνομα του Νταλί δεν είναι για σένα τίποτα περισσότερο από το όνομα ενός καλλιτέχνη που έμεινε στην ιστορία εξαιτίας του σημαντικού του έργου. Είναι όμως πράγματι έτσι; Ήταν ο Νταλί τόσο ευφυής και μεγάλος καλλιτέχνης ή απλά οι συγκυρίες και η ματαιοδοξία του νεόπλουτου κόσμου τον οδήγησαν στον κολοφώνα της δόξας με τελείως πλασματικό στην ουσία του τρόπο; Σύμφωνα με τα γεγονότα της ιστορίας αυτής, που προσωπικά δεν έχω κανέναν λόγο να αμφισβητήσω, η αλήθεια βρίσκεται κάπου στη μέση. Ναι, ο Νταλί υπήρξε στα πρώιμα χρόνια του ένας ιδιαίτερος καλλιτέχνης με ξεχωριστό χάρισμα που ωστόσο στην πορεία έχασε την ταυτότητά του και ξεπούλησε την όποια καλλιτεχνικότητά του προς χάριν του χρήματος.

Το γεγονός ότι ο Σταν κατέληξε καταζητούμενος για απάτη και ότι τελικά φυλακίστηκε, αδυνατώντας να κρατήσει σε ισορροπία τελικά την προσωπική του ζωή, αποδεικνύει το τίμημα που πληρώνει κανείς προκειμένου να επιτύχει τους στόχους του. Το ίδιο όμως συμβαίνει και με όσους βοήθησαν τον Νταλί στις επί χρόνια απάτες του ή και στην ικανοποίηση των όποιων διαστροφών του. Ό,τι ανεβαίνει κατεβαίνει λέει ο σοφός μας λαός και δεν έχει άδικο καθώς, ακόμα και ο ίδιος ο Νταλί, που τόσο δοξάστηκε, κατέληξε να περάσει τα τελευταία χρόνια της ζωή του, και ιδιαίτερα μετά το θάνατο της Γκαλά, σε μια θλιβερή απομόνωση. Το ότι υπήρξε αντικείμενο σκληρής κριτικής και έντονων διαξιφισμών, τόσο όσο ζούσε, όσο και μετά το θάνατό του δεν είναι καθόλου τυχαίο και το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο είμαι σίγουρη πως αποτελεί ένα ακόμα λιθαράκι στις αντιπαραθέσεις γύρω από το όνομά του μέχρι σήμερα. Ωστόσο το βιβλίο είναι καταπληκτικό και απ' όσο είμαι σε θέση να διαπιστώσω, ειλικρινές. Αν κάτι είναι σίγουρο, αυτό είναι το εξής. Ναι, ο Νταλί ήταν μια μηχανή χρήματος για τον ίδιο αλλά και για όσους τον εκμεταλλεύτηκαν αλλά, και μια πηγή θλίψης και μιζέριας, με μια ζωή γεμάτη σκοτεινά μυστικά που γοητευμένοι κι έκπληκτοι ανακαλύπτουμε διαβάζοντας το μυθιστόρημα αυτό.

[jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is precious little about the artist in this book, and what information there is projects an image of Dali and his wife being art swindlers and worse, that Dali was a child molester. This information is given in the guise of idle gossip among the washed-up celebrities the author socialized with in the 70's, so he provides no proof that any claims are true.
But like I said, there is very little of the book about Dali. Instead, the author writes about his own life selling fake Dalis. This could have been interesting, but it isn't because Lauryssens isn't a storyteller. The dialogue is laughably stiff and unnatural, and while he was arrested several times for art fraud and even spent time in jail, he glides over these parts in just a few sentences, then goes on at length about buying a house with his new girlfriend. He spends more time describing a later prison sentence, but it's at the very end of the book-too little, too late.
I gave the book one star because of the transcriptions of actual Dali interviews (not with the author), which are pretty funny.

[Aggeliki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αν μας ζητούσαν να σκεφτούμε έννοιες όπως εκκεντρικότητα, έπαρση και σουρεαλισμός σίγουρα ο Νταλί ως ύπαρξη είναι χαρακτηριστικό δείγμα τους. Δεδομένου δε ότι ολόκληρο το βιβλίο βασίζεται στις εμπειρίες του συγγραφέα ως εμπόρου τέχνης (λέμε τώρα), το σουρεαλιστικό στοιχείο γίνεται όλο και πιο έντονο σε κάθε σελίδα. Ο αφηγητής μας ζει την κορυφή και τον πάτο, στην ουσία εξ'ολοκλήρου ενορχηστρωμένα από τον ίδιο τον Νταλί ο οποίος στην περιγραφή του τέλους της ζωής του αποδομείται ολοκληρωτικά όπως και ολόκληρη η κοινωνία της ζωγραφικής. Ευγενείς ιδέες στην σκληρά εμπορευματοποιημένη τέχνη δεν υπάρχουν και η ιστορία που μας αφηγείται εδώ ο Lauryssens είναι η περίτρανη απόδειξη.

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Na ovom svetu, varljivom, ništa nije istina, i ništa nije laž.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost twenty years after his death the inexplicable life and works of Salvador Dali are still a mystery. And con-men continue to make financial gains by using his name.

In Dali & I, Stan Lauryssens may well be continuing the tradition.

I wanted to quit reading this book about 30 pages in because it is so badly written. Unless you’re a fan of excessive lists in place of sentences:

“…far outsold superstars Warren Beatty, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, and even Elizabeth Taylor, the all-time beauty queen.”

Mr Lauryssens uses this technique throughout the entire book, most excessively in the first half to describe his surroundings and what he’s eating and drinking.

Another annoyance. The continuing rolling “rrr’s” that he put into every dialogue attributed to Dali (a man whom, by the way, he never met. He saw him once at the top of a staircase) Just pointing out the rolling r’s once is all the reader needs to imagine for themselves.

And then there’s the bad dialogue. In the author’s defense, he does point out:

“Conversations presented in dialogue form have been recreated based on my memory of them, but they are not intended to represent the word-for-word documentation of what was said; rather, they are meant to reflect the substance of what was said.”

Fair enough. Who keeps a diary of every conversation they have. But, again, they are badly written and the timing of them is hard to believe. Why, upon first meeting someone, would you tell them of your childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a living icon?

Beyond his writing style, I was also finding the truthfulness of much of this book dubious.

Upon being arrested, why would you brag to the police about knowingly selling fake Dali’s and then be shocked when they put you in jail? If your keeping yourself prisoner in your own home because Interpol is looking for you, why would you contact the FBI to get a file on Dali to find out if he was a Nazi spy? If you’re comfortable driving your Alfa-Romeo from town to town to meet with Dali insiders (while still being hunted by Interpol) why not buy a pad of paper as opposed to writing conversations down on backs of receipts and toilet paper?

Yes, about halfway through the book Lauryssens began keeping notes on his conversations (whether for a memoir or some sort of evidence against Dali is not told) and the dialogue in the book started flowing more smoothly. So, just as I was getting ready to at least try to enjoy this book as a fictional memoir…Stan ticked me off…

His lack of respect for people as a whole was irritating me and I’m sure his “Black” housekeeper (mentioned twice in the same terms) would feel the same. After having mentioned Amanda Lear a couple of times and back-handedly complimenting her each time, he finally flat out insulted her by referring to her artwork as Dali imitations. I needed to see for myself. So I “googled” Amanda Lear. I did find her art on a fan website. Definitely Dali inspired but hardly what I would call “imitations”. On her own website there is no artwork, it’s dedicated to her music and television appearances and has a couple of articles, including a 2004 interview for Night magazine which was very interesting.

Then I went back to the book and an hour later came across this:

"What advice did he (Dali) give you, Ultra (Violet)?"
"Whatever you do, he said, do something that attracts attention. Be a murderer, set fire to a hotel, talk dirty. Whatever. But do something..."

I just read that! I went back to Ms Lear’s site and sure enough, four years ago from her, not even quoting Dali:

"Whatever you do, be a murderer, set fire to the hotel, say something that will really shock, talk dirty, whatever, do something that will attract attention."

Did Mr. Lauryssens mistakenly attribute this quote to the wrong source? Although, according to the book Ms Lear was at this meeting with him and Ultra Violet, among others. Was this something Dali "said to all the girls"? Did the reporter interviewing Amanda Lear mistakenly credit her with this quote? Did the author happen upon this interview?

This caused me an irrepressible need for more investigation. I found on a number of different websites and two different Dali biographies instances of easily accessible information that is also noted in this book. None as nearly word for word as the above, but enough for me to wonder how much of this book is memoir and how much is research. And how many of these conversations he actually had, even allowing for the inaccuracy of the dialogue.

To go any further would cause this review to become a dissertation on Salvador Dali and how much information about him is real and how much is his own hype. How much responsibility he holds for the Dali fakes and how much is the way art works. An area I have some background in as someone who once worked as an in-house artist for and architectural firm. Scandalous.

Only two other books have ever made me as emotional as this one. The emotion with the other two was deep sorrow.

This book provoked high energy anger. I have told everyone I can find about this book. I can’t stop thinking about it, no matter what I’m doing. I still am not giving up on my own Dali research and there’s still plenty to come with lawsuits that are still active and I now find myself needing to keep current on them.

Even bad art can evoke emotion.

http://nobsbookreviews.today.com

[Daniel Martins Marques · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprova-se a surrealidade.. que loucura de vida a de Dalí! Começa com admiração pela criação, pela criatividade absurda .. termina com alguma desilusão pela dúvida sobre tudo o que foi feito. Coloca a reflexão: ainda que os quadros não sejam dele, alguém olharia para eles se não fossem assinados por ele? E é isso a arte de Dalí? Do saber transformar e vender? Mais do que a obra em si? .. não há certos e errados poderá dizer-se.
Livro lê se muito bem, capítulos pequenos..sem complexidade. Aconselho muito.

[José Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilhante

[Frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good authors can write a story with an unsympathetic narrator that you can't stop reading despite not liking the main character. This is not one of those stories. These are Stan Lauryssen's memoirs of his time as an art dealer selling fake Salvador Dalí artwork. Lauryssens has the dubious distinction of writing a book about himself in which he comes across as a total scumbag, while purporting not to know that he was a total scumbag. He spends much of the book gleefully passing off photocopies and forgeries as "authentic" Dalís for exorbitant sums of money, while saying he feels terrible about it, but it's not until page 123 (after he gets arrested for the first time) that he's a con man. "What was I guilty of? ...I adhered to MMC company policy. Is that a crime? Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I still didn't want to admit to myself that I had become a con man. A nice con man, well dressed, educated, and charming." It would have been a better story if he had said that he knew what he was doing from the start and didn't feel bad about it.

The prose isn't quite bad enough to make me return it to the library without finishing it. Some passages are beautifully descriptive. The plot has serious flaws, and the author tries to make up for it with sensational stories about Dalí's sex parties. It's fine for a speed read to kill time at an airport.

This book has been optioned to be the basis for a movie starring Robert DeNiro as Dalí. If the movie is made, and it stays faithful to the book, DeNiro won't have much to do, because Dalí and the narrator only meet once for about five minutes. The rest of the book is mostly Lauryssens hiding out as a fugitive from justice, trying to avoid getting arrested, hearing fantastic stories from others about Dalí, and spending money. One of the reasons he is an unsympathetic character is that he says over and over that he has no money or is running out of money, but he keeps spending it. He also falls in love and has a child with a Catalonian woman, and manages to make her one of the most two-dimentional characters in the book.

The moral of the story is that you can't believe anything you hear about Dalí, and, according to the author, all of the artwork created in Dalí's name pretty much since he met Gala has been a fake or a forgery. Except maybe that's another fable. This would be a huge revelation if the author had managed to make you care about himself or Dalí or anything that was going on, but instead, it's just a cotton candy story with a lot of details that don't make a lot of sense that would have been better off as a novel and a work of fiction instead of purportedly non-ficiton memoirs.

[Melania · Rating 2 out of 5]

EU SI DALI POVESTE SUPRAREALISTA

Stan Lauryssens susține că a fost dealer de opere ale lui Dali. Cartea este autobiografică și împletește povestea personală a autorului cu traseul artistic și privat al lui Salvador Dali. Volumul este controversat, contestat de Fundația Gala-Salvador Dali și de alți critici.

De la găuritor de brînză, Lauryssens a ajuns să se ocupe de cumpărarea și vînzarea tablourilor și a altor creații ale artistului spaniol. Nu știa mereu dacă operele erau autentice și la un moment dat nici nu a mai contat asta. Toate bune și frumoase, dar autorul susține că, de fapt, Dali însuși încuraja falsificarea tablourilor sale, din dorința de a cîștiga bani constant. Mai mult, el povestește cum pictorul semna foi albe, care ulterior deveneau schițe, litografii și alte produse artistice numai bune de tranzacționat.

Teoria care a scandalizat cel mai mult este aceea conform căreia nu Dali ar fi pictat, ci o echipă de tineri artiști, pe baza indicațiilor sale sumare. Gala – soția, amanta, sora, confidenta, sufletul-pereche al lui Dali – ar fi fost cea care se ocupa de plata acestor artiști, plată infimă, de altfel. Avînd în vedere personalitatea complexă a lui Dali, este greu de aflat adevărul. Pictorul credea despre el însuși că este un geniu, că i se cuvine totul, că nimic nu va mai fi la fel după operele lui, deci de ce nu ar fi inventat și propagat el însuși această teorie?

În mod clar, este un volum menit să șocheze. Ritmul povestirii este alert, cu propoziții scurte, cu acțiune continuă. Lauryssens știe ce vinde prin scriitura sa, așa că insistă pe episoadele de excese sexuale ale lui Dali și le împopoțonează în mod evident. Se știe că Dali o adora pe Gala, dar în cartea „Eu și Dali“ autorul îi creează acesteia o imagine de scorpie, încadrînd-o în tipologia femeilor care distrug, în cele din urmă, geniul bărbatului lîngă care trăiesc.

Veți regăsi în această carte un Dali diferit de cel din „Jurnal“ sau din alte scrieri, deși previzibil: obsedat sexual, obsedat de bani, falsificator. Chiar dacă unii cred că Lauryssens nu a făcut decît să profite de imaginea lui Dali ca să-și vîndă cartea, este un volum agreabil, pe care-l citești cu nesaț, datorită caracterului ieșit din comun al pictorului.

Încă din 2009, sunt zvonuri privind ecranizarea cărții, dar proiectul a tot fost amînat. Următorul termen este 2014 și filmul plănuiește să-l aibă pe Al Pacino în rolul lui Dali.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, and not because I've ever been a fan of Dali. I've never understood his repetitious and bizarre themes. The fact that he was a fake of the highest of highs gets me off the hook for my distaste of him and his art. I guess the book is true. The author does his best to let us in on Dali, his employee’s deceptions and the author’s part in that deception. A lot of people were involved in the ruse, and a lot of adoration was given to Dali who rewarded them with very little if any rather monetary remuneration. The poor devotees never even got a genuine/genuine signature or anything worth anything to anybody. I sort of pictured a whirlwind of activity, erotic behavior and whorl wind shenanigans surrounding this charlatan who continues to have a huge following. Perhaps the Dali art lovers don't realize that what they are viewing in a museum or gallery is probably a fake/fake.

[Marisa Fernandes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antes de mais convém referir que esta é uma obra de não ficção. Uma obra de não ficção acerca de um negociador de obras do pintor espanhol Salvador Dalí. Obras essas, cuja proveniência era frequentemente duvidosa, mas isso não interessava muito, até porque os compradores das mesmas acabavam por não fazer muitas perguntas acerca delas... Queriam Dalí e pronto.
Ao longo da história, o negociador que era especialista em Dalí vai começando a aperceber-se do real por trás do surreal da vida e obra de Dalí. E fá-lo de perto, muito perto. Chegando mesmo a compreender que até Dalí podia ser duvidoso...
Esta é efectivamente uma história interessante que nos leva a percorrer a vida e a obra de Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) e, ao mesmo tempo, a percorrer a subjectividade do que é o mundo da arte e dos negócios com esta relacionada.

[Vichy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Διαβάζοντας το βιβλίο έχω μείνει έκπληκτη όχι τόσο με τη ζωή και τα χούγια του Νταλί που όλοι λένε εκκεντρικό, ε��ώ ήταν ένας εγωκεντρικός, τρελάρας και διεστραμμένος, όσο με την αμφισβήτηση του έργου του, εφόσον συμπεραίνεται ότι μόνο το 25% των κυκλοφορούντων είναι δικό του! Ο Νταλί και η μούσα του Γκαλά είχαν τα μάτια του Σκρουτζ Μακ Ντακ, δηλαδή δολάρια στη θέση των ματιών τους. Ο συγγραφέας αφηγητής είχε ως δουλειά την τέχνη της απάτης, εφόσον σου πουλούσε φύκια για μεταξωτές κορδέλες ενώ ο ίδιος ο Νταλί αμφισβητούσε τις μεταξωτές κορδέλες δίνοντας αξία στα φύκια...

Δύο αξιόλογα site για τη ζωή και το έργο του Νταλί παρακάτω:

http://rusart.ca/history/dali.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments...

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

A moderately entertaining story of a crook and his perception or exaggeration of the Dali "fake" scandal. Unfortunately there is too much gossip and hearsay and no evidence other than the author's assertions. The author admits that he was a professional con artist and that he'd say anything for a buck so his credibility is low. I should have read a review before buying and reading the book. I learned very little (if anything) about Salvador Dali.

[Kirsten Griffith · Rating 2 out of 5]

My excitement at receiving this book from the LT ER program dwindled to nil when I realized that the author was a poor storyteller who sought to use the book as a vehicle for further defamation of the artist. While I'm sure there was some fact mingled in with the fantastic, none of it was compelling enough for me to make it more than a third of the way through the book on no fewer than three separate attempts. The writing isn't poor, but it's nothing special.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hopefully this book reads better on the page than it does aloud. So far, I cannot stand the narrator's voice!

Progress after a few CDs: I still hate the narrator's voice. I also really do not like the writer or his writing style.

Memoirs written by smug low-lifes fail to capture my attention.

[Joann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Always a fan of surrealist art and art in general, I wanted to know more about the bizarre life of Dali. I wasn't prepared to receive so much information. I am so skeptical of the veracity of facts as told by a confessed criminal. This a quick read, thankfully and I would not recommend it.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indeed surreal, not only Dali's art, but his life in this book, his strange ways and his godly behaviour. I really wonder if this is how he was. The book is completely constructed about anecdotes and stories about Dali, about whose life I knew very little to be honest.

[Shandygirl · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst thing about this book being so badly written is that it makes the story unbelievable. I don't care if things really happened as he wrote, I just want to be able to suspend belief long enough to enjoy the book. Had to give up after 50 pages.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very much about the Artist, I found myself reading about the same things over and over in the book. Didnt really enjoy it, but interesting to find out about someone elses view on Dali.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finishing this tedious book felt like getting paroled.

[Cathoir Germain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Het boek is te lezen, maar valt heel veel op dezelfde feiten! Heb het niet volledig uitgelezen. Misschien later!

[Ziortza Pereira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretencioso a más no poder.
Paso de seguir leyendo. #DNF

[RatGrrrl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very rarely leave a review for a book I read so little of: DNF @14%, so bear that in mind, but I resent this book.

I picked it up randomly at the library in a rush because I am hyperfixated on Surrealism and Dalì, particularly his early work, at the moment and thought this was more of a biography/ memoir, rather than what it actually is. I haven't enjoyed it from the jump, but I forced myself to keep reading because I knew Dalì actually becomes a central figure, eventually. As much as I adore his work, I can't help be morbidly curious about how much of much his self aggrandising and general dickheadery increased exponentially as he aged.

What this actually is: the bargain version of something like The Wolf of Wall Street (not a film I even liked), but without any of the charm and skill that Scorsese and the cast bring to the endeavour. It's just a nouveau riche bourgeois yuppie bragging about how much money he made, fucking people over (who admittedly are rich, so LOL), and alternating between telling you how much he does or doesn't like the rich guy stuff he starts doing.

I fucking hate this guy. He's executive wanker in an 80s movie-coded. Like, I support securing the bag and it's always fun to see people with more money than sense get ripped off, but there's just no way to enjoy that or be anything but repulsed by a guy who instantly becomes more of an entitled prick than any of the people he's actually fleecing.

The whole book feels like constant shitty flexing. Maybe there is supposed to be an attempt to play it straight, no remorse in the moment, as with The Wolf of Wall Street, but the author, and presumably ghost writer, just don't have the chops to do that kind of subtlety. But, more, than anything, it just reads like a pathetic guy flexing.

The writing is terrible. It's readable and chuggable, but there isn't a scrap of artistry or soul in it. It just feels like life vanity, cash grab, airport book crap. If I had a long flight and absolutely nothing else to do this book would be a godsend, but otherwise I want nothing to do with it and wish I had gone with my gut.

Oof. I really don't normally go this hard, especially on such an early DNF, but I really did hate this book.

[Yaroslava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Історія грандіозної афери геніального шоумена чи сюреалістичний жарт великого митця? Перша частина книги нагадує путівник Бедекера схрещений з мелодрамою категорії С та посібником для студентів менеджменту (південні ландшафти Ампурда, розе з Пералади, страви з Ель Буллі, триденний секс з довгоногою іспанкою меандрично переплітаються з успішними стратегіями продажу ілюзії й техніками маніпуляції); ближче до другої половини книги автор врешті-решт хапає Далі за вуса. Стен Лауриссенс, що заробив фортуну на торгівлі творами Далі та навіть потрапив через це до в"язниці, показує нам іміджевого натхненника Іллі Чичкана очима осіб, що в той чи інший час належали до його близького оточення, надихаючи його, розважаючись з ним чи на нього ж працюючи. Я з подивом дізналась, що існують автентично-автентичні, автентично-сфальсифіковані та неавтентично-сфальсиковані Далі, а також що значна частина пізніших картин його авторства створені не самим маестро, а його "підрядниками" Ісіодро Беа, Жоржем Матьйо, Філліпсом та Мануелем Пуйолем Баладаса.

[Els Van de Velde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stan Lauryssens gaat aan de slag als verkoper van nepwerken van Salvador Dali en verdient daarmee bakken geld. Hij meet zich een decadente levensstijl aan, en ziet er geen graten in om (vooral) zelfstandigen en kleine ondernemers hun zwart geld afhandig te maken. Als hij opgepakt wordt, kan hij naar Spanje vluchten, naar het dorp waar Dali woont. Hij maakt er kennis met mensen uit zijn entourage en komt veel te weten over de excentrieke kunstenaar en zijn op geld beluste vrouw Gala.
Deze spannende een autobiografie werpt een licht op de massale kunstzwendel die opgezet werd door het entourage van Dali, vaak met medeweten van de kunstenaar zelf.
Goed geschreven, het is een pageturner. Maar het geheel is zo onwaarschijnlijk dat ik blijf twijfelen of het niet allemaal zwaar overdreven is (misschien niet de kunstzwendel, maar alle gebeurtenissen daarrond.)
'Nu verfilmd in Hollywood' staat op de voorflap, maar die verfilming is er nooit gekomen.

[honeybean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's devotion to Dali and connection to the artist's life by the end proved really interesting. The facts on Dali's life, true to Dali, were entertaining and enlightening to his motives and true artistic abilities.

[Zorica Zoric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narator mi je strašno išao na nerve.Koja je poenta knjige ?
Da se Dali okarakteriše kao pedofil i razvratnik ?!
Kako to da je knjiga o Daliju a Dali je u pozadini negde.
Samo kao lajtmotiv.Pravi naziv knjige bi trebao biti "Malo
Dalija & Ja ".Osrednje.