Salvador Dali Biography Books
February 8th, 2008
Question: How did salvador dali become famous?
ok, i know he expelled himself for the school of fine arts in Madrid, and i know that he is now one of the most famous artists that ever existed. but what happened in between? how did he go from college drop-out, to a successful artist?
i read a book about his paintings with a short biography in the beginning but it didn't mention how his fame actually started and im very curios.
plz only answer this question if you know for sure.
thank you :]
Answer: Dali was an extremely gifted painter and draughtsman with a natural talent and an enormous ego. He became impatient with the art school curriculum because he was convinced he was a better artist than any of his tutors. I don't think he was a "drop-out" in the modern sense, and as he came from a moderately wealthy family never had to do the starving artist thing.
He first became "famous" in America, which up to this point had no real experience of Surrealism. That he was an inveterate showman and tireless at self-promotion was integral to this success. He would do almost anything to get public exposure and make money (Breton called him "Avida Dollars") and he rapidly became the personification of the eccentric European artist for the American public.
The rest, as they say, is history.PS. Most surveys of European art include his earlier and middle period work, but very few his later stuff. It's basically considered to be clever kitsch.
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