cover image Salvador Dal: The Construction of the Image 1925–1930

Salvador Dal: The Construction of the Image 1925–1930

Felix Fanes, . . Yale Univ., $55 (242pp) ISBN 978-0-300-09179-3

The period between Salvador Dalí's (1904–1989) first solo exhibition in Barcelona and his collaboration with Luis Buñuel on the film L'Âge d'or was essential for the artist's aesthetic and political evolution. Internationally renowned Dalí scholar Fanés focuses on these five formative years (1925–1930) in his meticulously researched and lucidly written study of the intellectual, artistic and historical circumstances that shaped the artist's early career. Organized chronologically, the book begins with Dalí's neoclassical roots and culminates with his embrace of modernist architecture and increasing antagonism toward his native Catalan culture. Of particular interest are Fanés's analyses of Dalí's varied influences, including Vermeer, Picasso, Miró, de Chirico and poet Paul Eluard. An appendix of previously unpublished and obscure Dalí texts rounds out this comprehensive work. Those in search of a biographically driven portrait should look elsewhere, however; one of Fanés explicit aims is to avoid a psychological, anecdotal approach to a figure whose personality and self-constructed image at times overwhelmed his oeuvre. Fanés's book will be invaluable to Dalí scholars, art and cultural historians of the period. The general reader will also find it significant and highly readable. Numerous beautiful images, some rare, illustrate this impressive and important contribution. 30 color, 110 b&w illus. (Apr.)