Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali. Spanish Surrealist painter and printmaker, born in 1904 and known for his explorations of subconscious imagery.  

I have always admired the fiercely technical yet highly unusual paintings of Salvador Dali, and when I got the chance 30 years ago to buy 4 original signed  prints from the wholesaler called Comb, I bought them. 

The Hallucinogenic Toreador (first picture) was originally done in oil on canvas around 1968, 

The Madonna and child (second picture), 

Also 

'Columbus Discovers America', 

and 

the 'Wailing Wall'. 

According to the Google library, Dali would make a drawing on the back of the checks with which he paid his restaurant bills. Resulting in few cheques being cashed, but instead kept for the collectors value. 

Salvador Dali's interactive art ushered in a new generation of imaginative expression.

Credits to: https://www.britannica.com/  https://thedali.org/

Emotional Ocean

 Jim: In 1970 I was in a Sea Shell shop in Mazatlan, Mexico. Just browsing. The owner, seeing that I was not buying anything suggested that I might like to look upstairs. I went up the rickety stairs to the attic where they had more junk than what is in my garage. Amongst the chaos was this painting, in the frame, and covered with dust. The price tag was 10 Pesos. But I thought they might have meant 10 dollars. The difference is that Pesos has only one strike across the “S” while dollars has two strikes across the “S”. So I asked and was assured that it was 10 Pesos. So I bought it! This painting is unsigned and I have no idea who did it, but for 10 Pesos, including the frame I could not resist. 10 Pesos in 1970 was the equivalent of 53 USA cents. It has hung in my living room ever since.

Bringing it back on the airplane was an ordeal. At the condo I took the frame apart and removed and rolled the canvas. The whole shebang was still too big for cabin luggage but the stewardess let us put it in the coat closet. 

Misale:  Even though most of the time we sit with our backs to this painting, it reflects in the glass doors and seemingly is ever present. In days gone by, I would have thought the artist was over dramatizing. Now, I look at it realizing it is not possible to show and tell with paint and words, the immense magnitude of an ocean with emotions. We humans are so small in creation.

This artist had experienced it and tried to bring forth that greatness. Yet, his story was worth only a few cents.. We all have amazing lives, every moment of it. If only we can value it. In the end we are only dust.