Life of an Exceptional Artist, Salvador Dali

Salvador Dalí was a famous Spanish artist, and well-known surrealist, born in Spain. When it comes to his family, he unfortunately dealt with some loss early on. His family consists of his mom, dad, older brother, and younger sister. Dalí’s mom passed when he was 16. Dalí had a brother also named Salvador.

Sadly, he never got to meet his brother, as he passed before he was born. In terms of his art education, Dalí started picking up on and enjoying art at age 10, when he began taking drawing classes. In the early 1920s, he was enrolled in an art academy in Madrid. A famous statement he once made, was “I myself am Surrealism.” Surrealism is a type of art, which came about in the 20th century.

Along with surrealism, Dalí’s works also display his use of other art movements including Cubism, Dada, and Modern art, which were also 20th century movements. Several other artists including Picasso, Magritte, Miró, and Éluard helped lead to Dalí’s first use of surrealism, and overall introduced him to the style. Apart from being most recognized as a painter, Salvador Dalí also did other forms of art including sculpture and film. Through his paintings, people can also get a feel of Classical and Renaissance art. Dalí showcased those most, in the later works he created. Works of Dalí’s are displayed in various museums around the world, including the Salvador Dalí Museum, located in St. Petersburg, Florida.

One of his many well-known and recognized artworks, is his painting titled The Persistence Of Memory. This painting, highlights his use of surrealism, and is displayed in the Museum of Modern Art located in New York City. Unfortunately, people have to stray away from doing things they love and are passionate about sometimes. Because of a disorder, Salvador Dalí sadly could not continue on with painting. This came about in 1980, as the disorder was affecting his hands, which were only becoming weaker. Dalí lived a strong 84 years of life, from May 11th, 1904, to January 23, 1989. His works continue to be remembered and referred to. Salvador Dalí has left a positive mark on the world, especially the art world.

I highly enjoyed this assignment for multiple reasons. Learning more about Salvador Dalí was interesting to me, as I have seen some of his works in some of the art classes I have taken. Although I have seen some of his works, I enjoyed getting to learn some interesting facts and history about him and the art movements and styles he was known for using. I thought this assignment was clever, as it includes parts of various subjects in it including: history, Spanish, English, and writing.

Another reason I enjoyed this assignment was because it was stress free. Often times when long papers are assigned, students get stressed out more, and I liked being able to learn about my topic in a way that was enjoyable. This was an assignment that was very interesting to me. I also liked how this assignment had a list of topics, and we got to choose a topic we wanted to do from that list. I would definitely recommend this activity again.