Salvador Dali: Portfolio (Large)

Published by Taschen , 2006, softcover, illustrated, large colour art plates, folio sized, 28.5 cms x 36.5 cms, condition: as new.

"Salvador Dali is the central figure in surrealism and one of the most eccentric artists of the modern age. A brilliant painter and draughtsman, Dali described his style as 'paranoid-critical'. Sexual and religious content is mixed with highly subjective and personal sensations. Death, decay and destruction are repeated themes." Dali's life was marred with an early identity crisis, which led to him living his life oscillating between exaggerated self-promotion and psychological self-destruction. Gala, his wife and muse, had to save him from many crises. Meanwhile, Dali invented himself as a commercial object.

Dalí by Dawn Ades is a very well-written biography that gives the reader considerable insight into the life and mind of Salvador Dalí. Ades tells writes his childhood, the psycho-analysis of his work, and even his work in film. The book is broken up into easy to follow, well-organized chapters that allow you to find whatever information on Dalí you could want. This biography is suitable for high school students and above and is fairly easy to read and understand even without much prior art knowledge. Many terms that may not be understood by every reader are explained and the flow of the reading makes it easy to follow. Ades includes a wide range of pictures both in color and black and white of works by Dalí and others. This book has the perfect mixture of academic information on art and culture and of Dalí's personal life and emotional details. After reading this book I feel much familiar with concepts I wasn't before. Not only is this book interesting and informative but it is also inspiring. Reading of the way Dalí lived his life being completely authentic and unafraid of disapproval made me realize what amazing things can come from being true to oneself. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in art or psychology.

Prints are amazing.