By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   Sometimes I believe scholars of the life and art of Salvador Dali overthink his surrealism. They ascribe profound meanings and esoteric psychoanalytic interpretations to aspects of his work that may or may not be plausible or necessary.   Me? I sometimes think Dali simply liked to shock. And, often, to be overtly sexual in the erotic and suggestive images that arose from many of his canvases – especially

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   When I was director of publicity for the world’s first Salvador Dali Museum – then located in Beachwood, Ohio, near Cleveland and since relocated (in 1982) to St. Petersburg, Florida – one question was probably posed more often than any other to the collection’s owners, A. Reynolds and Eleanor Morse: which work in the collection is your favorite?   Mine is and always has been “The Hallucinogenic Toreador.”

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   There’s something quintessentially surrealist – and perhaps quintessentially Dalinian – about “Morning Ossification of the Cypress,” which a 30-year-old Salvador Dali painted in 1934. Ironically, the work is at once both strange and a bit eerie, yet also rather peaceful, devoid of a lot of elemental details that sometimes crowd confined spaces in Dali’s pictures.   At first blush, the painting certainly has a dream-like quality to it.

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   We recently considered in this space from the Salvador Dali Society, Inc., Dali’s 1929 oil painting, “First Days of Spring.” Today’s work – also known as “The First Days of Spring,” was created around 1922-’23, is wash on paper – and may be one of the most delightful works ever created by the scion of Surrealism.   As a Dali historian and writer, I admit that I tend

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   I don’t mean to dwell on so-called “war pictures”; I’ve written about several of them in recent blog posts. But today’s entry confronts a 1938 Dali painting that puts an exceptionally unusual twist on one’s anxiety over impending war – in this case the Spanish Civil War – and lays claim to one of the strangest titles of any Salvador Dali painting.   I’m talking about “Debris of

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   Salvador Dali’s “First Days of Spring,” painted when he was 25, seems to be “seasonally correct” (as opposed to politically correct) as we enjoy spring while on the cusp of the first days of of summer. It’s one of the rare Dali paintings that does NOT feature the mountains, cypress trees and rock formations from his beloved Spanish countryside, which populated so many of Dali’s works.   Instead, “First

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   One of the saddest realities of life is that history shows us there were very few if any times when war wasn’t a reality somewhere on our planet. Salvador Dali reflected this disquieting fact in a host of important works of art, beginning with his iconic oil on panel of 1935, “Flaming Giraffe” (Kuntsmuseum, Basel, Switzerland).   It’s funny how certain Dali paintings sometimes transport us back to

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   I’m not sure how many Dali scholars have connected the dots this way, but there’s really little wonder why the theme of death pervaded so much of the surrealism of Salvador Dali. First, the brother born a couple years before Dali – whom his parents had named Salvador (!) – died of meningitis.   A picture of the dead child hung prominently in the Dali family home, near

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   Today we’re taking a look at one of the final paintings by Salvador Dali, created in 1982 when the Surrealist master was 78 years old and in the throes of daunting health issues. Although we don’t know for certain, it’s probable that Dali had some help with this canvas by a studio assistant, given the increasing unsteadiness of Dali’s hand at the time. It seems fitting that Dali

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   Here’s a Dali you’re more than likely not familiar with: “The Mountains of Cape Creus on the March (LSD Trip),” painted in 1967 at the height of the psychedelic, free love, acid-popping movement (not to mention the year this dali.com blogger graduated from high school).   “Mountains of Cape Creus on the March (LSD Trip)” – executed in watercolor and India ink – was painted the same year