Salvador Dali

Dali claimed to be “totally impotent,” but his sex drive is quite evident and often an aspect to his paintings. He also claimed to be a virgin when he met Gala. Whether or not it is true, is hard to say. Salvador loved to make up stories; another trait of this querky character.

The Great Masturbator, 1929

The Lugubrious Game, 1929
Vertigo, 1930

The Old Age of William Tell, 1931

Atmospheric Skull Sodomizing a Grand Piano, 1934

Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate. One Second Before Awakening, 1944

Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized by the Horns of Her Own Chastity, 1954

For Dali, pianos and cups, not to mention several more obvious objects stood for females. Lions and anything that looks remotely phallic, is a sign of man and his unending lust. Everything means something when it comes to Dali.

The Persistance of Memory, 1931.

The painting was first exhibited in Paris at the Galerie Pierre Colle in 1931, where it was purchased by the New York gallerist Julien Levy for $250. It is possibly his most famous painting and the first of Dali’s works to have the “soft” or “melting” watches. The head, in the center of the painting, is generally considered to be a self-portrait.

The Enigma of William Tell, 1933

Dali explains this painting in a quote from “L’enigme de Salvador Dali,” 1974.

“William Tell is my father and the little child in his arms is myself; instead of an apple I have a raw cutlet on my head. He is planning to eat me. A tiny nut by his foot contains a tiny child, the image of my wife Gala. She is under constant threat from this foot. Because if the foot moves only very slightly, it can crush the nut. ”

Dali deliberately gave William Tell the features of Lenin, purely to anger the Surrealists, which it did. They even tried to vandalize the painting. Andre Breton, the “chief” Surrealist, was outraged and called it a “counter-revolutionary act” and treason against the Bolshevik leader.

This also painting shows Dali settling accounts with his father, who had disowned him because he had been living with a married woman (Gala, Paul Eluard’s soon-to-be ex-wife).

The Sick Child, 1923. Dali was the second-born son of his family. His older brother sickened and died at a young age. Dali was plagued by his brother’s memory and sometimes felt that he was just a substitute for him. His parents “were constantly speaking about the other Salvador.” In this painting, he seems to reflect on those feelings.

Figure at a Window, 1925.

Seated Girl from the Back, 1925.

Landscape Near Figueras, 1910.
This is first known painting. He was 6 years old. It is a painting of the landscape near his family’s summer home in Figueras, Spain. He had many fond childhood memories there.

Port of Cadaques (Night), 1919.

Self-Portrait, 1921.
Self-Portrait with the Neck of Raphael, 1921.

Cubist Self-Portrait, 1923.
Dali experimented with Cubism, which was popular at the time, before he found his niche. However, he mastered many styles and mediums throughout his life.