Dalí becomes Dalí

Salvador Dalí was possibly the first 20th century artist to fully understand the impact of the mass media on society and culture in general. While still at the Academy in Madrid, Dalí became known as a dandy. In the 1930s, he began to cultivate the moustache that eventually became his trademark. With the emergence of television and the popular press in the 1940s and onwards, he was increasingly visible in the media, using them to present his views on life and art, and also to become a famous artist. 

Dalí the universal artist

Salvador Dalí’s predilection for expressing himself in a variety of media evokes the Renaissance ideas of the universal genius. Leonardo da Vinci was a vital source of inspiration to him, and he experimented in a wide range of artistic activities from the late 1930s until his death in 1989, including designing fabrics, perfume bottles, jewellery, staging photographs (with himself as the leading character), appearing as a performance artist on television, writing opera librettos, creating posters, ads and magazine covers, collaborating with Elsa Schiaparelli, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, illustrating and writing books.

Anything goes

Salvador Dalí wanted to shock, disturb and surprise. He transgressed notions of good and bad taste and caused confusion with his “paranoiac-critical” method. According to Dalí, this method consists of attaining a state where the unconscious dream world can emerge in harmony with the waking world. Objects, people and events have no unequivocal meanings. Instead, time and space merge and undergo astonishing metamorphoses. This method sometimes resulted in controversial statements on anything from politics to religion.

Unknown photographer, Salvador Dalí in front of The Enigma of William Tell, during his exhibition at Moderna Museet, 1973. Image rights of Salvador Dalí reserved. Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, 2009