A final farewell to the genius that was Dali
On his last public appeareance, Salvador Dali said: “When you are a genius, you do not have the right to die because we are necessary for the progress of humanity.”
He died a few weeks later, on January 23, 1989, at the age of 84.
Like everyone else, Dali discovered time waits for no man, but he was right to call himself a genius.
One of the most famous artists of all time, the surrealist painter was, like so many geniuses, a touch eccentric.
With his remarkable waxed moustache, long cape, walking stick and his pet ocelot, there was no missing Dali in a crowd.
And he was far more than just a painter.
He was an artist in every sense of the word, through mediums from film and Disney animation to jewellery and sculptures.
He designed the Chupa Chups lollipop logo and the advertising campaign for the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest and had a suitably madcap friendship with shock rocker Alice Cooper.
Dali was born on May 11, 1904, at Figueres in Catalonia to a middle-class lawyer and notary.
When barely of school age, he was taken by his parents to the grave of his brother, also Salvador, who had died nine months before Dali was born, and was told that he was the reincarnation of his brother.
He attended drawing school and realised he had a talent, and this developed as he studied at university, by which point his unique appearance was already bringing attention.
His first solo exhibition was held in Barcelona in 1925 and the following year he quit his studies.
In 1929, he met his lifelong muse and future wife Gala, who inspired him to greater heights. In 1931, he painted one of his most famous works, The Persistence Of Memory, which shows soft, melting watches, and he soon became a star in America, where he spent much of the Second World War.
Dali’s health took a downturn in 1980 and he seemingly lost the will to live when Gala died two years later. He spent much of his final years as a recluse.
In November, 1988, he was admitted to hospital with heart failure.
The following month, King Juan Carlos came to his bedside.
Dali gave the royal what turned out to be his final drawing, Head Of Europa.
He returned home the following month, where he gave his aforementioned final press conference to a waiting media, and died a few weeks later.
He is buried in the crypt below the stage of his theatre and museum, across from the church where he had his baptism, first communion and funeral, just a short distance from where he was born.