TASCHEN's 25th anniversary ? Special edition! Two large-format hardcover volumes in a slipcase at a special bestseller price Picasso called Dal? "an outboard motor that's always running." Dal? thought himself a genius with a right to indulge in whatever lunacy popped into his head. Painter, sculptor, writer, and filmmaker, Salvador Dal? (1904-1989) was one of the century's greatest exhibitionists and eccentrics?and was rewarded with fierce controversy wherever he went. He was one of the first to apply the insights of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis to the art of painting, approaching the subconscious with extraordinary sensitivity and imagination. This lively monograph presents the infamous Surrealist in full color and in his own words. His provocative imagery is all here, from the soft watches to the notorious burning giraffe. A friend of the artist for over thirty years, privy to the reality behind Dal?'s public image, author Robert Descharnes is uniquely qualified to analyze Dal??both the man and the myth.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Bound to become the standard reference work..." Le Figaro, Paris"
About the Author
Robert Descharnes, a photographer and writer, has published studies of major artists, among them Antoni Gaudi and Auguste Rodin. Since 1950, he has been documenting and cataloguing Dali's paintings and writings, and is now considered the leading expert on the artist. Shortly before Dali's death, Descharnes was appointed by him to take charge of the rights to his works, within the Societe Demart Pro Arte B.V., of which Descharnes is president. Gilles Neret was an art historian, journalist, writer, and museum correspondent. He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L'Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Neret is the editor of TASCHEN's catalogues raisonnes of the works of Monet and Velazquez, as well as the author of Dali - The Paintings and Erotica Universalis. He died on August 3, 2005.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Well, at nearly 6kg, a whap in the head with this thing would certainly loosen some screws. That's not what I meant, though.
It's huge, beautiful, and encyclopedic. It covers Dalí's entire career, with all of the different stages he went through in creating his art and himself. There's just too much to try to summarize here - the book takes over 1600 photos to illustrate his life. Most of them depict Dalí's art or Dalí himself (I still suspect that he lived his entire life as a work of performance art). Others depict influences on his art. Some show work by other artists, for contrast or as part of Dalí's heritage. A few show features of the natural world, a rock formation, for example, that the alchemy of Dalí's magic transmuted into new visual elements.
And, throughout, there is Gala - Dalí's wife, agent, manager, muse, model, and tour guide for his visit to planet Earth. I hate the phrase that would call Gala his "better half," but I'm sure that Dalí would have been incomplete in many ways without her. Certainly, his finished works owe much to the way she inspired him.
I fault this wonderful work for only one thing, but one that I find maddening: there is no index. In partial compensation, end matter lists each photo or work of art, in numerical order as they appeared in the book, with provenance and other information about any art shown. A bibliogrpahy would have been nice, too - but no index! With a book like this, it almost feels as if the last twenty pages had been ripped out.
Don't let that bit of pedantry get in the way of enjoying this marvelous collection, though.... Read more ›
It's huge, beautiful, and encyclopedic. It covers Dalí's entire career, with all of the different stages he went through in creating his art and himself. There's just too much to try to summarize here - the book takes over 1600 photos to illustrate his life. Most of them depict Dalí's art or Dalí himself (I still suspect that he lived his entire life as a work of performance art). Others depict influences on his art. Some show work by other artists, for contrast or as part of Dalí's heritage. A few show features of the natural world, a rock formation, for example, that the alchemy of Dalí's magic transmuted into new visual elements.
And, throughout, there is Gala - Dalí's wife, agent, manager, muse, model, and tour guide for his visit to planet Earth. I hate the phrase that would call Gala his "better half," but I'm sure that Dalí would have been incomplete in many ways without her. Certainly, his finished works owe much to the way she inspired him.
I fault this wonderful work for only one thing, but one that I find maddening: there is no index. In partial compensation, end matter lists each photo or work of art, in numerical order as they appeared in the book, with provenance and other information about any art shown. A bibliogrpahy would have been nice, too - but no index! With a book like this, it almost feels as if the last twenty pages had been ripped out.
Don't let that bit of pedantry get in the way of enjoying this marvelous collection, though.... Read more ›
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By Nsandz
Format:Hardcover
I have many books on Dali and his artwork. Some I have bought, some others have bought for me, but I was given this book as a gift, and I love it. I have decided that I do not need any of the other books on him, this one has all the famous pieces and more, some of the pictures I never even knew that he had created. Plus it is very informative. This is an amazing book, I would recommend anyone interested in surrealism to buy this book, for its price, it is a steal!
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Ann Martin
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a complete overview of Dali's works, it's more like an encyclopedia. But I would prefer it to have huge full-page illustrations of the paintings, even double-page ones! Because you can's appreciate the picture if it's only like 4x4". And Dali's paintings have so many small details, so that you want to be able to see them!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In order to rightfully qualify as a "definitive" type art book it must posses certain features. (1) - Quality 4 color reproductions true to the original artwork. With a high volume of reprints spanning the course of the artists productivity. (2) - Exemplary narrative text by qualified authorship. Indeed this comprehensive large edition triumphs in these requirements. . . . . . . Robert Descharnes' (the principle author) intimate knowledge stems from his 40 year personal relationship with Dali. Plus his own renouned contributions to art journals make this an interesting read. The reproductions are first-rate. This exact same book had previously been printed (1994) in a smaller format. And contrary to the above amazon stats; this is an 2006 edition. The colors are more accurate in this new edition. This is especially noted in the reproduced paper drawings. And 'Sfumato' was executed using a candle flame to scorch/smoke the paper. Beautifully reproduced here while it was blue in the previous edition. In 'Invention of the Monsters' you can make out the fine marblized grain of the sarcophagus table. In no other text in my Dali collection (#8) is this evident. Yet in 'The Cosmic Athletes' the intracranial contents of one figure is pitch black where it should have tea brown striations. These nuances may be too subtle to nitpick, but worth mentioning. . . . In 1984 Descharnes put out a gigantic sized $$$$ volume. The colors duller. The text good, but scattered. It did include some rare poster projects. None the less this 2006 edition proves to be a wonderful art book. Quoting Dali I'm sure he would agree; "Dali lovers could have sat down at table to feast on me!".
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Salvador Dali: The Paintings" is quite impressive. It's one of Taschen's finest books, those thousand-dollar limited editions notwithstanding. Thankfully, this massive collection is priced within the range of poor graduate students like myself.
If you're like me, you may think you have a pretty good idea about what a Dali painting looks like. Everyone knows the "melting clock" style, but after spending some time with this collection, I was surprised at my ignorance. Dali painted in so many varied styles, that I couldn't believe it. He's painted in most every style from baroque to impressionism to abstract expressionism and more.
I was taken aback by this and began to question whether or not he actually had an artistic voice of his own. Sometimes when an artist seems to cover a wide range of styles, it's no more than compensation for having no voice of their own. However, after a bit more study, I'm happy to report that this is not the case. No matter what style he adopts, it manages to gently subvert it, thereby putting his unique stamp on everything he does. When you look at how he can so skillfully master any given style and then twist its visual language, it's no wonder he's one of the great artists of the 20th century.
All this is to say, you'll most likely be surprised at what you find in this collection. Thankfully, there is excellent commentary along with the paintings, so you have some historical and critical context. As for the reproductions themselves, they are stunning. Taschen's reputation for quality is once again reaffirmed. The set is about 13" by 10", making the reproductions nice and big.
I could go on, but it's not necessary. If you're interested in Dali, you need this wonderful collection.... Read more ›
If you're like me, you may think you have a pretty good idea about what a Dali painting looks like. Everyone knows the "melting clock" style, but after spending some time with this collection, I was surprised at my ignorance. Dali painted in so many varied styles, that I couldn't believe it. He's painted in most every style from baroque to impressionism to abstract expressionism and more.
I was taken aback by this and began to question whether or not he actually had an artistic voice of his own. Sometimes when an artist seems to cover a wide range of styles, it's no more than compensation for having no voice of their own. However, after a bit more study, I'm happy to report that this is not the case. No matter what style he adopts, it manages to gently subvert it, thereby putting his unique stamp on everything he does. When you look at how he can so skillfully master any given style and then twist its visual language, it's no wonder he's one of the great artists of the 20th century.
All this is to say, you'll most likely be surprised at what you find in this collection. Thankfully, there is excellent commentary along with the paintings, so you have some historical and critical context. As for the reproductions themselves, they are stunning. Taschen's reputation for quality is once again reaffirmed. The set is about 13" by 10", making the reproductions nice and big.
I could go on, but it's not necessary. If you're interested in Dali, you need this wonderful collection.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive look at Dali the man and Artist and his work
It's not clear whether Dali was a genius or a mad man, or both, as his art transcends anything else on the market at the time. Read more
Published 1 month ago by fastreader
3.0 out of 5 stars
He was a genius
Comprehensive compendium of Dali's work, with biographical comments. Could use an index, but it is fun just to page through. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Thomas K. Aley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just what I needed
I bought this set of books to do a paper for school on the artist. Books were in excellent condition and were delivers on time. Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. Casey
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book about Salvador Dalí's paintings
Probably one of the best books about Salvador Dalí's works. It has almost all of its works in chronological order and a great summary about his life. The cover is superb. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Gustavo Pocay Kamada
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best of All
I bought this as a gift and let me tell you from what I can see, this is the pinnacle of Dali.
This collection houses all his masterpieces and is the most definitive... Read more
This collection houses all his masterpieces and is the most definitive... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Sokar
4.0 out of 5 stars
Complete, yes, but some reproductions appear too dark or small
I did not purchase this set for the text, rather, I wanted good reproductions of all his paintings. I will be keeping my other Dali books because I disagree with the color choices... Read more
Published 14 months ago by buyer
5.0 out of 5 stars
best dali book available
i bought this new from amazon. First of all i'm shocked this didn't cost 3 times as much as it did. This 2 volume set is huge and heavy. I didn't realize how much work he produced. Read more
Published 15 months ago by kittensandpills
5.0 out of 5 stars
High quality
Dali's work speaks for itself. These two books include many of Dali's works, along with information about the works which describe what he was trying to achieve, or just some... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Johnny C.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Complete Salvador Dali
I have always wanted to know what this great artist was about and wanted to understand the meaning of his paintings. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Patrick Curren
4.0 out of 5 stars
Colors are a little bland
Copyright information says this is the 2007 edition. Problem being, when compared against st. petersburgh selected works 'a different book I bought first' the colors on some... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Rabid Lemming
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