Biography
1904
May 11th, Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali Domenech is born as the second child to Salvador Dali Cusi and his wife Felipa Domenech Ferres, in the town of Figueres, Spain. Salvador Dali is given the same name as his brother, who died in infancy.
1907
Birth of his sister Anna Maria.
1908
Attends the municipal kindergarten.
1910
Attends the Immaculate Conception, primary school, run by the Christian Brothers. Learns to speak French at school.
1914
Receives first set of oil paints from the German artist Siegfrid Burmann, who is staying in Cadaques, Spain.
1916
Sent to the country home of the Pichot family for health reasons.
Attends secondary school, through 1921.
1917
Attends classes at the Municipal Drawing School, given by Señor Nunez. Señor Nunez, who received the Prix de Rome for engraving, teaches the young artist the techniques of chiaroscuro and original engraving.
1918
Takes strong interest in works by the Cubists.
Creates drawing for the popular Catalan magazine Patufet.
1919
January, participates in his first exhibition, where his first paintings are sold.
Articles about and by Dali are published. Receives artistic praise from local newspaper.
1921
February 6th, Felipa Domenech Ferres, Dali's mother, dies of cancer.
1922
Dali passes his entrance examination to the Acadamia de San Fernando in Madrid.
Dali develops close friendships with Louis Bunuel and Federico Garcia Lorca in the Residencia de Estudiantes.
January, exhibits eight works in the Catalan Students Association collective show at the Dalmau Galleries in Barcelona.
1923
October 22nd, Suspended from his studies at the Academia for disciplinary reasons.
Returns to Figueres, sees his former teacher Juan Nunez, and begins making prints.
His father buys him his first printing press.
1924
May 24th, imprisoned in Figueres as a reprisal against his fathers political activities. Spends thirty days in the jail in Ginora.
Returns to his studies at the Academia de San Fernando.
1925
November 14th, first one-man exhibition at the Dalmau Galleries in Barcelona. He shows fifteen paintings; show is big success. Picasso visits the exhibition and praises the work.
Ramon Pichot, Dali's early supporter, dies.
1926
April 11-28th, travels to Paris and meets Pablo Picasso at his studio.
June 14th, permanently expelled from Acadamia de San Fernando for refusing to be examined in "Fine Art Theory."
Federico Garcia Lorca publishes his "Ode to Salvador Dali."
Death of the architect Antonio Gaudi, who will appear in later writings by Dali.
1927
January 14, second one-man show at Galleries Dalmau, showing twenty-one paintings.
September, Joan Miro visits Dali in Figueres, Spain.
Completes twelve months of compulsory military service in the Castle of San Fernando in Figueres.
1928
March, contributes and publishes "Yellow Manifesto" Returns to Paris where he signs his first contract with the dealer Camille Goemans.
Shows three paintings in the 27th Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh.
1929
January, collaborates with Louis Bunuel and makes the film "Un Chien Andalou," which has its first showing in Paris on June 6th.
Summer, meets Gala Eluard in Cadaques, Spain while vacationing.
November 5, first one-man show in Paris is held at Goemans Gallery, eleven paintings are exhibited.
Formally invited to join the Surrealist group in Paris.
1930
Buys a fisherman's cottage with Gala, in Port Lligat, Spain near the town of Cadaques.
Has break in relationship with father.
Writes and illustrates "La Femme Visible," dedicated to Gala.
Paints, "The Average Bureaucrat."
1931
First one-man show at the Pierre Colle Gallery in Paris. Begins to produce Surrealist objects and sculpture.
Paints, "The Persistence Of Memory."
1932
Second one-man show at the Pierre Colle Gallery in Paris.
Picasso introduces Dali to photographer Brassai; they collaborate on the new magazine, "Minotaur."
Paul and Gala Eluard are legally divorced.
1934
January 30, Dali and Gala are married in a civil ceremony in Paris.
Makes first trip to New York after receiving $500 loan from Pablo Picasso.
Successful exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. Paints "The Spectre of Sex-Appeal" and "The Weaning of Furniture Nutrition."
Albert Skira, publishes forty-two original engravings by Dali, titled "Les Chants de Maldoror."
Has falling out with the "Pope of Surrealism," Andre Breton
1935
Publishes "The Conquest of the Irrational" in New York.
Sees Federico Garcia Lorca for the last time in Barcelona.
1936
Second trip to the United States.
Featured on the cover of Time Magazine.
Paints "Autumn Cannibalism" and "Soft Construction with Beans: Premonition of Civil War".
1937
Visits Italy for an extended stay because of the Spanish Civil War.
Meets Harpo Marx, writes screenplay for the Marx Brothers.
Paints, "The Metamorphosis of Narcissus."
Creates designs for Elsa Shiaparelli.
1938
July 19th, makes trip to London where he meets Sigmund Freud. Several drawings are made by Dali of the Psychiatrist.
Dali and Gala travel to Venice, Italy for vacation with Coco Chanel.
1939
Returns to New York, creates the environment "The Dream Of Venus" for the Worlds Fair.
Publishes his manifesto "Declaration of the Independence of the Imagination and of the Rights of Man to his Own Madness."
Dali has a final breach with the Surrealists.
Sigmund Freud dies of cancer.
1940
Dali and Gala emigrate to the United States for eight year period, spend time in Virginia, California and New York.
Paints, "Daddy Long Legs of the Evening - Hope."
1941
First one-man show at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York.
Museum of Modern Art in New York holds Dali-Miro exhibit.
Designs his first jewelry collection.
Dali is featured in Life magazine.
1942
Publication of his autobiography "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali."
1943
Dali and Gala meet Mr. and Mrs. A. Reynolds Morse in New York.
Paints, "Geopolitical Child Watching the Birth of the New Man."
1944
George Orwell publishes his critical essay, "The Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali."
1945
Has solo exhibition at the Bignou Gallery in New York.
Mr. A. Reynolds Morse publishes, "The Dream World of Salvador Dali."
1946
Creates stage designs for Alfred Hitchcock`s movie, "Spellbound."
Paints "The Temptation of Saint Anthony."
1947
Sketches cartoons for the Walt Disney film project "Destino," which is never produced.
Dali and Gala return to Paris.
1948
Summer, returns with Gala to his home in Port Lligat, Spain.
A reconciliation is effected with Dali's father and sister.
"50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship" is published in New York.
1949
Granted an audience with Pope Pius XII.
Ana Maria Dali publishes her book, "Salvador Dali as Seen by his Sister."
Paints "Leda Atomica."
1950
September 21st, Salvador Dali Cusi, Dali's father dies.
Publishes his article "The Decadence of Modern Art."
1951
Paints "Christ Saint John of the Cross," which is sold to the Glasgow Museum of Art.
1952
Gala's first husband, Paul Eluard dies in France.
1954
Retrospective of works is shown in Rome, Venice and Milan.
Paints "Corpus Hypercubus."
1956
Received in the Pardo Palace by General Franco of Spain.
Paints "Still Life Fast Moving."
1957
Joseph Foret publishes 12 original lithographs by Dali, titled "Pages choisies de Don Quichotte de la Mancha."
1958
August 8th, Dali and Gala are married in a religious ceremony in Spain.
Presented with the "Gold Medal of the City of Paris" and the "French Medal of Distinction."
1959
Granted audience with Pope Jahannes XXIII.
Paints "The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus."
1962
Publishes the book "Tragic Myth of Millet's Angelus."
Enters a ten-year contractual agreement with the publisher Pierre Argillet to produce illustrations for various texts.
1963
Retrospective exhibition is shown at M. Knoedler in New York.
Pierre Argillet publishes original engravings and etchings by Dali Titled "The Mythology."
Illustrates an edition of the "Divine Comedy" published in Paris.
1964
Receives the "Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic," the highest Spanish decoration.
Retrospective exhibition is shown in Tokyo.
1965
Publishes his book "Diary of a Genius."
1967
Purchases Pubol Castle in Gerona and begins interior renovation.
1969
Gala moves to Pubol Castle to live on her own.
Paints "Hallucinogenic Toreador."
1970
Dali retrospective exhibition is shown in Rotterdam.
Founding of the Teatro-Museo Dali is formally announced.
1971
Dali begins work on mural paintings for the Teatro-Museo Dali.
Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds Morse open the Salvador Dali Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
1973
Pablo Picasso dies in Mougins, France
1974
The Teatro-Museo Dali opens in Figueres, Spain. Museum is designed and created by Dali.
Dali begins to have major health problems.
1975
November 20th, General Franco dies in Madrid.
1976
Paints "Gala Contemplating The Sea" which at a distance of Twenty Meters is Transformed into a Portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
1978
Dali undergoes prostate surgery in Barcelona.
May 26th, elected an associate foreign member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France.
1980
Dali retrospective exhibition is shown at the Tate Gallery in London.
1981
Dali retrospective is shown at the Heidelberg Castle in Germany.
The King and Queen of Spain visit Dali and Gala in Port Lligat.
Is awarded the Gold Metal of Generalitat of Catalonia.
1982
June 10th, Gala suddenly dies in Port Lligat at age eighty eight.
March 7th, The Dali Museum opens in St. Petersburg, Florida. The museum houses one the most comprehensive collections of Dali oil paintings in the world.
Dali is elevated to nobility by King Juan Carlos, bestows on him the title of Marquis of Pubol.
Moves into the Castle at Pubol, which was given to Gala as a gift.
1983
Dali retrospective is shown in Madrid and Barcelona.
Paints his last painting "The Swallows Tail" in the Castle at Pubol.
Joan Miro dies in Majorca, Spain.
Dali continues to have health problems.
1984
Dali is severely burned in a fire at the Castle at Pubol. Undergoes a number of skin grafts in a Barcelona hospital.
1986
Fitted with a pacemaker to correct cardiac problems.
1988
Moves into a private room at the Torre Galatea next to the Teatro-Museo Dali in Figueres.
Dali exhibition is shown at the Pushkin State Museum on Fine Arts in Moscow.
1989
January 23rd, Salvador Dali dies of heart failure in the Torre Galatea. He is interred in a crypt at the lower level of the Teartro-Museo Dali.
Bequeaths his estate to the Kingdom of Spain and the Independent Region Of Catalonia.
