By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   The major art auctions have been on fire lately.   The big news, of course, was the recent sale at Christie’s of “Salvator Mundi” (“World Savior”) by Leonardo Da Vinci – the last of the few paintings Leonardo did that remains in private hands. It fetched an out-of-the-stratosphere $450 million. Extraordinary.   Who has the money to buy such a virtually priceless thing? Come to think of it,

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   One of the most unusual paintings by Salvador Dali – a work most people have probably never seen or even know about, and whose title is another one that seems to confound us – is “Allegory of an American Christmas” of 1943.   The oil on board is in some respects Daliesque, yet also looks noticeably different from the Spanish surrealist’s work, especially with respect to the landscape

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian     “The Temptation of St. Anthony” is easily one of the most widely reproduced and well-known of the masterful oil paintings by the king of Surrealism, Salvador Dali. Ironically, it came into being as a result of an artists’ competition among U.S. and European artists – and went on to become one of Dali’s most superb and compelling masterpieces. Dali painted this 34 inch x 47 inch canvas

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   There I was in 2005, working through the spectacular Salvador Dali centennial retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art – a great museum that owns, among other Dali’s, one of the greatest Dali paintings ever: “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans; Premonition of Civil War.”   What a delight seeing so many impressive paintings by the Surrealist master in honor of the 100th anniversary of Dali’s birth in 1904.

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   If there was any other artist in human history who worshipped his wife in a more pervasive and dramatic way than Salvador Dali revered his Russian wife, Gala, this historian doesn’t know about him.   Salvador Dali without Gala would have been unimaginable. Impossible. She was truly his muse; his life and career manager; and his leading model, after his sister Ana Maria held that title in his

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   It’s been said that Salvador Dali was ahead of his time. He proved that statement in dramatic fashion when he painted possibly the most complex and striking masterwork in his vast catalog of paintings: the immense oil on canvas, “The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus” (sometimes referred to as “The Dream of Columbus”), 1959, which hangs in the permanent collection of The Salvador Dali Museum in St.

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   The might-have-been’s in Salvador Dali’s colorful career are fascinating. He would have been an emperor in the classic movie, “Dune,” were it not for his salary demands that were too rich for director Alexander Jodorowsky’s blood. His idea to erect a large model of a woman with a fish’s head – an apparently blasphemous twist on the iconic “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli – was squashed by the

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   Sometimes I think Salvador Dali must have grown out of a rock formation in his native Spain!   That’s how hugely important the unique topology of his native countryside was in shaping his thoughts, ideas, and images. I’m talking specifically the Costa Brava and, more specifically, points such as Cadaques, Cape Creus, the Bay of Rosas, and, of course, Port Lligat.   In addition, specific points of interest

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   People love the art of Salvador Dali. Some people like to steel it, too.   The latest caper made international headlines just days ago: police in Beirut, Lebanon, arrested four people who were trying to sell a stolen 1954 Dali oil titled “Portrait of Mrs. James Reeves” (not “Reese,” as at least one book author erroneously spelled it).   The plan was reportedly to sell the stunning 58

By Paul Chimera Salvador Dali Historian   Picture it. You’ve waited for years to see in person the Salvador Dali masterpiece that is perhaps the most famous religious painting in modern history: “Christ of St. John of the Cross.”   Your heart pounds with rising intensity as you approach the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. And in short order the news slams you like a Pacific tsunami:   “I’m sorry. Dali’s ‘Christ of St.