“Surrealism is me,” Dalí exclaimed; Today marks 120 years since his birth

Salvador Dalí, one of the leaders of surrealism, had no notoriety in the art world when the manifesto of that cultural movement promoted by André Breton was published 100 years ago, remembers Enrique Esteban Zepeda Vázquez, an expert in Mexico and certifier of the work of the Catalan painter.

Regarding the 120th anniversary of the birth of the controversial artist, which falls this May 11, the specialist spoke with The Conference about Dalí’s relationship with art, with his contemporaries and his thoughts about the country.

In 1924, although he was one of the great later references, Dalí was 20 years old and had just entered the special school of painting and sculpture at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, in Madrid.he explained.

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech was born in the city of Figueras, in Barcelona, ​​Spain, on May 11, 1904. He was the son of an accountant and a religious housewife, who always encouraged his talent.

In 1922, he moved to Madrid to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, where he met the poet Federico García Lorca, the painter Maruja Mallo and the filmmaker Luis Buñuel, among others.

“There he also met those who would make up the Generation of ’27. Dalí began to expand his horizons and grow to break with the established; He published in magazines like Friends of the Arts y The New Magazine, and focused on cutting-edge issues.

“With García Lorca he tried to publish the book The rotten ones, catalog of drawings whose intention was to confront what they called ‘the old or the obsolete bourgeoisie’. “These specimens are treasures that are now in private collections,” explained Zepeda Vázquez.

He added that it was the painter Joan Miró who put Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí in contact with Breton; both would become surrealists in 1929 with the Second Manifesto of that movement. However, the cordiality with that vanguard lasted very little.

Avida Dollars

After achieving monetary success, the Catalan preferred to give priority to his work rather than the commitment demanded by Breton, who emphasized that his movement was not only an artistic movement but also a political one.

To mock him, Breton made an acronym out of Dalí’s name: Avida Dollars, in reference to his status as a bourgeois. In response, the painter launched the phrase surrealism is mewith the irony that his work was more famous than that of the founder of the movement himself.

“In a way he was right. The public knows more about surrealism from Dalí than from other artists. We can talk about other painters, but very few locate his works; An example is Picasso, no one thinks about his participation in this artistic movement, but rather others, such as cubism.

“When he realized that extravagance fueled his fame, he created his shows media to sell more pieces. First the long mustaches, then he appeared on the cover of the magazine Time; At that time he began to be adored by the masses in the United States and his fame continued to grow,” said Zepeda Vázquez.

Salvador would meet they refuse, Gala Éluard, in 1929, the only woman whose presence was constant in surrealist circles. She would be in charge of managing both the agenda and the planning of her exhibitions. Meanwhile, he would focus more on her role as extravagant and in its production.

His work was also transformed: he deepened his love for Catholicism, although he did not leave aside his interest in science and sought to imitate the painters of the Renaissance to improve his technique.

“He stopped considering himself a surrealist, specifically about movement, but his strokes are all from that school. Following his interest in atoms and divinity, he named this stage of his work ‘surreal-mystical-nuclear’,” the specialist explained.

The painter died January 23, 1989 at his home, located in Figueras, Spain. He was buried in his museum, in that same community, and not with his wife Gala, who died in 1982 and was buried in Púbol.

One of the big problems with the authentication of Dalí’s pieces, the certifier continued, is his numerous production, since some works were replicated by his apprentices and he only signed. Additionally, he delivered many at private functions to attract as much attention as possible.

Many of its catalogs are held by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation. Many others come from his private secretary, Robert Descharnes, those are the main pieces that consult mehe said.

Mexico and pre-Hispanic cultures

The Catalan painter never set foot on Mexican lands and said he had no interest in pre-Columbian cultures, explains Zepeda Vázquez.

“When they asked him about these topics, he always refused to be interested; He even once received an award at the Palace of Fine Arts and he asked David Alfaro Siqueiros to collect it at his representation. I don’t know how they met or if his secretary contacted him.

I reviewed one of the pieces that he had supposedly made after a visit to Cancún, in 1978, but it was false; I could also verify it from the certificate. He never came to Mexico. His only trips were from Figueras, where he lived, to Paris, by train, and then back. From America he once went to New York and Californiahe explained.

One of the events that link Salvador Dalí with Mexico was the interview that journalist Jacobo Zabludovsky did with him in Portlligat, Spain, in the artist’s home studio. From that dialogue, the communicator always showed himself proudbecause it provoked what both of them most wanted: controversy.