Salvador Dalí: genius, moustache and surrealism in power

If there is one artist capable of transforming a pair of moustaches into a work of art and a melting clock into a global icon, it is Salvador Dalí.

He wasn’t just an eccentric character with a passion for the theatre of the absurd: Dalí was (and still is) a creative volcano, an unbridled visionary, a genius who left a deep mark on 20th-century art… and on my imagination (and perhaps yours too).

Today, I’m taking you on a journey through giant ants, elephants on stilts and liquid dreams to discover (or rediscover) the life, works and legacy of this extraordinary artist.

Dalì, La Persistenza della Memoria

The life of Dalí: a surrealist film in episodes

Born in Figueres, Catalonia, in 1904, Salvador Dalí knew from an early age that he wanted to surprise people and even as a child he said he wanted to become a genius.

Did he succeed? I would say so.

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, but rather than his painting, he was noticed for his eccentric looks and star attitude. In the 1920s, he became involved in Surrealism, an artistic movement that pushed art beyond logic into the mysterious realms of dreams and the unconscious.

In 1929, he met Gala, his muse, companion and manager, a central figure in his personal and artistic life. The two lived a lifelong love story and marketing campaign (yes, that too!).

Dalí was never just a painter, but also a film director, sculptor, writer, fashion designer and… a media personality before social media existed. If he were born today, he would probably have a YouTube channel with millions of followers.

Dalí’s works: where anything is possible

His works are not to be looked at. They are to be dreamed about.

The most famous? “The Persistence of Memory” (1931), with those soft watches that seem to melt in the sun. An ode to time losing its consistency, as in a lucid nightmare.

But there is much more. Here are some of Salvador Dalí’s other great works:

• In “The Great Masturbator”, we enter the depths of the erotic unconscious.
• In “The Elephants”, we find ourselves in a suspended world where the laws of physics no longer apply.
• In “The Face of War”, Dalí depicts terror with an image that is impossible to forget.

Then there are the drawings, the theatre costumes, the collaboration with Disney on the short film “Destino”, film sets, advertisements… Surrealism was not an artistic movement for him, but a way of life.

Dalí’s legacy today: an influencer of the subconscious

Salvador Dalí never left the stage and today you can find him in museums, of course, but also in memes, advertisements and fashion. His style continues to inspire creatives, designers, artists and filmmakers.

His museum in Figueres, which he designed himself, is an experience halfway between a dream and a psychedelic carousel. Then there is the digital influence: artificial intelligence creating dreamlike art? Dalí would have loved it!

His true strength? Giving visual form to what cannot be explained in words.

Desires, fears, obsessions: Dalí put them on canvas as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Salvador Dalì, Il Grande Masturbatore

Why we (still) love Dalí

Because he was unconventional, ironic, theatrical, because he knew how to play with art without ever trivialising it.Dalí taught us that imagination is not escapism but a powerful form of freedom.

Dalí was a painter, a provocateur, a brilliant clown and a poet of the unconscious. And if you think about it, even today, in a world full of rules and algorithms, we need someone to remind us that reality is not everything and that dreams, every now and then, deserve to be taken seriously.

Has Dalí’s universe struck you too? Write to me in the comments and tell me which work makes you travel the most… or dream!