Books › Salvador Dalí, 1904-1989
Salvador Dalí, 1904-1989
780 pages
A meticulously researched plunge into the grandiose, grotesque, and fiercely controversial mind of a surrealist master.
What it feels like
Reading this comprehensive catalogue feels like wandering through the sprawling, eccentric architecture of a genius's subconscious. The pace is steady and methodical, anchored by years of meticulous research, yet the atmosphere remains deeply surreal and grandiose, reflecting the artist's own exhibitionist nature. The prose balances scholarly rigor with a palpable fascination for the grotesque and the imaginative, guiding the reader through a labyrinth of rarely seen works and psychoanalytic insights. It is an intellectual and visual feast that immerses you in the fierce controversy and relentless creative motor of a modern master. Art historians and lovers of surrealism will devour this exhaustive, sensitive exploration of a mind that turned lunacy into legendary art.
- Mood
- surreal
- grandiose
- intellectual
- eccentric
- Tone
- scholarly
- analytical
- reverent
- objective
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the subconscious mind · artistic eccentricity · psychoanalysis in art · creative obsession
- The writing
- Thoroughly researched and analytical, providing a structured, scholarly framework for wildly imaginative and grotesque visual subjects.
- The arc
- A methodical exploration that moves from scholarly curiosity into deep awe at the sheer volume of a controversial genius's output.
- Who it's for
- Art historians, surrealism enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of psychoanalysis and eccentric artistic genius.
Content notes
- grotesque imagery
- psychoanalytic themes
About the book
The seminal surrealist: Exploring Dalí's grandiose and grotesque oeuvre
Picasso called Dalí "an outboard motor that’s always running." Dalí thought himself a genius with a right to indulge in whatever lunacy popped into his head. Painter, sculptor, writer, and filmmaker, Salvador Dalí (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 publication presents the entire painted oeuvre of Salvador Dalí. After many years of research, Robert Descharnesand Gilles Néret finally located all the paintings of this highly prolific artist. Many of the works had been inaccessible for years—in fact so many that almost half the illustrations in this book had rarely been seen.
Description from Open Library.
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