Oh, the places they went! The people they saw! The people they knew! The oohs and the ahs!
Readers: You may think you've known a wild life but I doubt you’ve experienced anything like the lives of Gala (1894-1982) and Salvador Dali (1904-1989). If so, you must be in an unusual contest.
What fun is was to read about the young in Paris during Dada!
Except for all the many confusing names and sometimes helter-skelter mixed-up paragraphs and subjects which jump all over the place and the need for better (or some) editing, this is a good read for art enthusiasts.
Gala's nickname was bestowed on her by her first husband, Paul Éluard, whom she met at a sanatorium in Switzerland when they both were 17 and she was being treated for tuberculosis.
Gala and Paul's only child, a daughter, Cecile was born 1918 (d. 2016), but Gala was never a good mother and did not like the role.
Her relationship with Dali began while she was still married to Paul (from 1917-1929), but she remained close to Paul for the rest of his life (1895-1952), he providing her with financial advice.
Paul became a renowned poet and was one of the founders of Surrealism.
Meanwhile, Dali was ten years younger than Gala and a virgin (at age 25). His father disinherited him because Gala was born a Russian and married. Father and son did not speak for five years.
Salvador Dali credited Gala with most parts of his artistic life, his life support, he called her whose name he signed to his paintings, she, the subject of many.
She was much more than his business manager: She edited and skillfully marketed his works, monetizing every product she (and they) could conceive, much like Trump markets his name today on many and various things.
Gala taught Dali how to dress, take the stairs (!), how to eat without throwing chicken bones to the ceiling, how to recognize enemies and how to stop losing money.
The Dalis traveled all over Europe and the U.S., visiting in the homes of friends, often during the late 1930s as Hitler began his invasion of Austria.
Their wild lifestyles made them Paris‘s hot couple and when they came to the U.S. for the first time in 1934, “the cameras went wild” (p. 123). After all, Gala wore two lamb chops on her shoulder which were tied to Dali's coat.
They socialized with the very rich, but they struggled financially, a condition Gala tried to hide.
The designer, Chanel, with whom they remained lifelong friends, recognized a good model when she saw one and loaned Gala's clothes to wear and to market.
It was not surprising to read that Dali “always made work in order to disturb as many people as possible" (p. 120) and he and Gala delighted in novelty.
Some have called them, the inventors of performance art.
Despite their open marriage especially in later years, they maintained a strong relationship and Dali had her remains interred in a Spanish castle he bought for her 14 years before her death, he outliving her by seven years.
If you can wade through all the names or just ignore many of them and the confusing editing, you'll get through this like I did.
It seems like another good movie in the make! A book sure to open eyes and wonder about what all you've missed.
patricialesli@gmail.com
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