From the 1920s to the present decade Spanish artist Salvador Dalí has maintained a reputation as the master magician of contemporary art. His alien and nightmarish images stimulate the viewer's imagination with extraordinary power attracting each new generation by the force of his hallucinogenic inspirations.
This new publication is a delight and a revelation for aficionados of Dalí and offers new insights into his art and life. For those approaching Dalí's work for the first time, it provides a perfect introduction to the cosmos as it is seen and interpreted by this self-proclaimed master of the "Paranoic-Critical".
Dalí's art was and is still controversial. It has infuriated and enchanted both layman and art critic but it remains undeniabley memorable. His painting of soft watches is one of the great icons of the twentieth century. Dalí's detractors label him as a money-mad charlatan while his advocates praise him as the greatest painter and draftsman since the days of the Renaissance. Dalí acknowledges and capitalizes on both viewpoints with equanimity.
Dalí's visual language is virtuosic and his range of imagery is protean. There is not one field in the visual arts that he has not explored successfully: painting, sculpture, graphics, book illustration, jewelry design, scenography. He is even acknowledged as an essayist and novelist.
His influence in all areas is staggering and the pages of this book explain his ever-fresh popularity with art lovers of all ages and all tastes. Whether the subject is inspired by Freud or the Bible, alchemy or science, or from Classical mythology or nuclear physics, Dalí's art remains unforgettable. It is mystical. It is erotic. It is inspirational. It is obsessive and evocative.
The authors, Ignacio Gómez de Liaño, is one of Spain's leading essayists and poets and an important voice in the field of art criticism and aesthetics. Since 1978 Senor de Liaño has been one of Dalí's major and most articulate eulogists, and his close contact with the artist, combined with a fresh approach to his art, has infused his text with insight and authority.