From earliest childhood there was something special about Salvador Dali and, even before his talent for drawing and painting emerged, it was clear that he needed to be the centre of attention. In a carefully posed photograph taken when he was about seven, the child is sitting in the midst of a close-knit family: his father, his mother, and an aunt to his right, with a second aunt, his grandmother, and his sister to his left - all together on the rocky beach at Cadaques, a landscape which was to appear in so many of his later works along with the fishing boat seen here in the background. It is perfectly obvious who has his hands on the reins here, who is the king of the castle: the child, sheltered and spoilt. A piece of string trailing artfully from the boy's hand seems to be hinting at some prank or scheme he is hatching behind that smooth forehead.

From earliest childhood there was something special about Salvador Dali and, even before his talent for drawing and painting emerged, it was clear that he needed to be the centre of attention. In a carefully posed photograph taken when he was about seven, the child is sitting in the midst of a close-knit family: his father, his mother, and an aunt to his right, with a second aunt, his grandmother, and his sister to his left - all together on the rocky beach at Cadaques, a landscape which was to appear in so many of his later works along with the fishing boat seen here in the background. It is perfectly obvious who has his hands on the reins here, who is the king of the castle: the child, sheltered and spoilt. A piece of string trailing artfully from the boy"s hand seems to be hinting at some prank or scheme he is hatching behind that smooth forehead. And the string reinforces the sense that it is natural that he in particular should be chosen, showing that he of course dominates, protected by his father"s authority in the background, yet already far beyond it.

The Thirst for Fame

The Pleasure Principle

The Joys of Childhood

Sublimation

Heah"ng and Father Hatred

Forwards

The Death Wish

Auri sacra fames

Curiosity

Biography

Footnotes

Bibliography

List of

Illustrations