From Publishers Weekly
Piercing the flamboyant persona of a self-mythologizing artist, this lively, gossipy, well-researched biography of Salvador Dali lays bare the demons that fed his paranoia and fueled his art. Dali was given the identical name of a baby brother who had died nine months before his birth in 1904. According to Etherington-Smith, editor of Christie's International Magazine , Dali carried a lifelong burden of guilt at having "stolen" his elder brother's existence. Shattered by his adored mother's death when he was 17, the Spanish painter craved fame because he needed to prove himself to his father, a bullying notary, reports the author. She maintains that Dali (1904-1989) had homosexual desires but was terrified of being physically touched and probably shied away from a sexual relationship with demanding, possessive poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Dali's marriage to Gala (born Helena Diakonoff) is convincingly presented here as a relationship of mutual, morbid dependence. This biography candidly confronts the darker facets of Dali's life, such as his right-wing politics, his allegiance to Franco in the Spanish Civil War, his masochism, phobias, manipulativeness and frenzied autoeroticism. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
In this first major biography since the artist's death, Etherington-Smith has created a brilliant portrayal of the enigmatic Salvador Dali. The author shows the emergence of Dali and surrealism, detailing his dealings with principal figures such as Andre Breton, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Luis Bunel. Dali's quick rise to fame and fortune through his masterful manipulation of the art world and general public is fully documented; the integral and enigmatic role of Gala, Dali's wife of more than 50 years, is intelligently explored. Though Picasso is certainly a greater artist and Max Ernst or Rene Magritte more "pure" Surrealists, it is Dali who has captured the imagination of the greater public. His iconography--arising, as the author shows, from childhood memories of his native Catalonia--has become a key element of the 20th-century mind. A vital work for understanding Dali, his art, and his times that will be popular in public and and academic collections.-- Martin R. Kalfatovic, Natl. Museum of American Art/Natl. Portrait Gallery Lib., Smithsonian Inst., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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