Rating: 
Summary: This is more than I needed to know
Review: I love the works of Salvador Dali. Look at some of his paintings and you can tell there is something profound going on in his mind. The question is, "what?" The problem with the book is that there's just way too much information for one artist. 600 pages of small type? Nobody is that fascinating. I'd rather have had more explanation for his paintings. What's going on with the 20 foot elephant stilt legs? What's with all the crutches? I'm sure the answers were all in the book, but it's buried in tons of rambling stories. I think I'll just wait for the Ken Burns PBS series on Dali.
Rating:
Summary: More than adequate chronicle; but a snooze of a storybook
Review: If you are looking for a complete documentary of Dali, here it is. Use it for school papers. But if you are looking for an enjoyable read of the life and times of Salvador Dali, that has yet to be written. Gibson methodically lists each period of Dali's life in as much detail as is probably possible in anything shorter than an archive. Although the author's thorough research is commendable-- certainly he has done a service to art history-- this dedication often drowns the reader without revealing much passion. And if you didn't comprehend Dali's perversions and the psychoanalytical content of his works before reading this tome, you won't after, either.
Rating: 
Summary: Like Dali's art, this bio takes effort but it's worth it
Review: If you want to be spoon fed Freudian explanations about what Dali's paintings mean, look for something else. But if you want a richly detailed, absolutely readable biography of Dali, this is it. I can't wait to read Gibson's biography of Lorca, but for now, I'm savoring this one and I only wish it were longer.
Rating:
Summary: Like Dali's art, this bio takes effort but it's worth it
Review: If you want to be spoon fed Freudian explanations about what Dali's paintings mean, look for something else. But if you want a richly detailed, absolutely readable biography of Dali, this is it. I can't wait to read Gibson's biography of Lorca, but for now, I'm savoring this one and I only wish it were longer.
Rating:
Summary: I'm looking for...
Review: Last week I read a review on a book by Ian Gibson, titled: "Dalí-Lorca, the love that could not be". It's about the feelings that existed between the two men, but which they could not express in times under Franco. I would like to get a copy of that book for my thesis, but I checked the Belgian bookstores, the internet. I was unable to find the book and even Reuters press agency -the review was published in a Belgian quality paper- could not help me. Have YOU heard of the book? Any help is welcome. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: I've Never Read A More Vivid Biography
Review: Most biographies I've read, the opening chapters are a bore of mundane details of the person's childhood that are uninterestnig and nearly always read the same. In contrast, Ian Gibson's writing style is so lush, that even the detailed history of the Dali family before Salvador was born are compelling. Gibson gives you the feel of the Spanish countryside and the era in which Dali and his forefathers lived. Gibson is a careful biographer as well. Instead of taking Dali's own autobiography, "The Secret Life Of Salvador Dali," at face value, Gibson researches Dali's life and points out discrepencies and exaggerations of Dali writings. It led me to reread Dali's own writings and gave me further insight into the mind of the artist. I enjoyed reading about Dali's relationships with other painters (Surreal and otherwise), writers and poets such as Lorca, and his love of jazz. Far from a dry outline of a famous person's life, this book makes Dali come alive.
Rating: 
Summary: Gibson has contributed a flawed book to Dali studies.
Review: reprint from Isthmus (Madison, WI) Vol. 23, No. 31, July 31-August 6, 1998, p. 19. Dead almost ten years now, Salvador Dali (1904-89) remains one of the most talked about artists of the 20th century; pause quietly and you may hear the cascade of all that talk still drift softly upon his coffin. Dali was and still is, a household name - a rare thing for artists in their own lifetime, let alone immediately after their death. But despite name recognition, only Dali seemed aware of Dali's genius. A literal outcast among the avant garde's own putrid outcasts, Dali seemed not prepared or capable of fitting anywhere, whether within the faux freedom of Andre Breton's Surrealism or in the realm of post-war America's not-joking-around art world. Despite a career that lasted until 1983, Dali only produced good work between 1929 and 1933. At least, that's what most art historians, curators and critics would have you believe. Dali's autobiographical fiction, public antics and impeccable talent for self generating PR has tended to color the way many artwriters have looked at his art: commercial kitsch painted by a hack fraud. Dali is possibly the only major artist of the modern period who hasn't been thoroughly reassessed. Thanks to several recent contributions (like R. Radford, H. Finkelstein)it seems Mr. Dali's cultural contributions, rather than public charades and smoke screens, are at last being assessed. Ian Gibson's unbalanced new biography contributes perceptive analysis of Dali's early years, but is savagely prejudiced about nearly everything else. Gibson's young (1904-1924) Dali is better understood than ever. Dali's formative years are conjured in a dreamlike, magic realist narrative contextualizing the artist's Catalan background. Gibson goes to fantastic lengths to credibly account for the Dali's childhood precocity, recurring obsessive themes and paranoias, attempting to sort the fictional from the actual - no simple task when dealing with the most deliberately elusive subject any biographer could select. Much good use was made of Dali's correspondence and other personal papers; he is approached with a clinical eye for biographical reality rather than myth. But Gibson falls apart and reveals his animosity for his subject over the rest of Dali's long life. This is a flawed book, written at times in a condescending tone and irresponsible in parts. Gibson announces that he will avoid the later work outright (he confesses to reader that he will do so as he launches into the post-war period) calls his practice as a biographer into doubt. How long will Dali remain a taboo for art historians? R. Cozzolino END
Rating: 
Summary: A shame Gibson does not fully deliver... By Zvi Avigdor, MD
Review: This is an author who decides to look at the life of Salvador Dali by concentrating in his faults and dark side. The story is written based on looking at the empty half of the glass, as Gibson's thesis proclaims that this was not a great painter with a negative side, but that the painter's negative side was primordial to his artistic evolution. Still, for anyone in search of understanding the brilliance of Dali, this is the ultimate book. The genius of this Spanish painter deserves such a comprehensive work, and Ian Gibson masterfully and in detail shows the reader the artist, in the context of his time and troubled life. In all books on Dali I have encountered, I have seldom seen such thorough research; the author is to be praised twofold, because the master himself did all in his power to publicly, and in writing, come across as someone he was not. In his biography, Mr. Gibson does a phenomenal job in clarifying the artist's strange life by uncovering his mysteries, and by intellectually undoing much of his exhibitionist behavior. Dali's thought process, as well as the distortions about himself and others are analyzed and criticized, at times subliminally (as if Gibson would become surreal himself), but most of the time quite openly, and it is refreshing that such a meticulous biography can provide such reading pleasure. Gibson, who had the opportunity to briefly meet the master, interviewed dozens of people (many of them knew the painter first hand), and the scholarship found in this magnificent 800 page treatise is well documented with in depth notes and proof sources, dozens of black and white photographs of people, places and art works, and 16 pages of color art.
We must however ask what was the author's true intention when using the word "Shameful" in the book's title? If the reader is attracted by such word in order to find shocking or censurable stories, he/she will be disappointed, as there are not many of those; the shameful life meant by Gibson was the one Dali had, full of painful emotions caused by consciousness of guilt. Shameful, as in pitiful could also be an appropriate meaning of the heading. Of the shameful statements and behaviors by the master, some, unfortunately, are not well scrutinized. How interesting would have been if Gibson, for example, had better researched if Salvador's sporadic fascist views where actually a product of the subconscious he could not control, as he claimed, or very much his real feelings. Those paradox moments of early fascination with Hitler and later on with racism, that prompted Breton and the Surrealists to cut with the painter are difficult to understand, even in such a confused and manipulative individual. Gibson only simplifies such complex enigmas by saying that Dali was a renegade, who continuously changed sides in order to attract attention, or guarantee his personal survival. We find however, that this is not always the case: The Maestro, in an entry in his diary in 1952, lauds Freud and Einstein and the entire "genius of the Jewish people"; if true that he behaved according to convenience, why Salvador was so strongly anti-Semitic later in the 1960s remains a puzzle, since it only pushed the Jewish art dealers away.
Pertaining the book's content, other criticism is in order: The author attempts to cover every single aspect of Dali's life by providing amazing details which could at times even seem to be irrelevant, but then he inexplicably forgets to reveal many well known facts. A case in point, there is no reference of Dali's feelings towards the creation of the State of Israel, which he viewed as a historical development with surrealistic overtones (was he being opportunistic once again?); as to why this is significant, is because he created images in 1968 and 1972, respectively for the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the State of Israel, -works that are not even mentioned in the book. The author also neglects to mention other (albeit not so well known) data: that in 1944 the Maestro was commissioned to do 7 paintings to illustrate " The Seven Lively Arts" for the lobby of the Ziegfield Theater, that in 1965 the painter donated a work to the Rikers Island Prison in New York. Many other examples can be cited. In addition, most of the works mentioned in the book are not shown, some of them pivotal to the narrative. The novice art reader would have benefited from such graphics even if in black and white, achieving a better understanding of the items created by the painter, or by others that influenced him.
Some of the Surreal Objects mentioned should have also been portrayed; the only one represented in the book, is not Dali's. It is utmost frustrating to read the reference or even the description of paintings, objects or sculptures without having the opportunity to look at them, and this occurs repeatedly in the script. Granted, the effort in obtaining and publishing such materials would have been a great one, but it seems that Gibson's style had the purpose of thoroughness which is not achieved by the omission of these elements. Furthermore, some works mentioned in the text are depicted, but only elsewhere in the book without any indication by the author of their presence; then a picture of 1974 is placed in the narrative of Dali's life in the late eighties; it seems that the editing could have been improved. Lastly, Gibson brings up complex references regarding art styles (Dadaism, Pre-Raphaelitism), political parties, philosophical movements and art expert opinions without any clarification of what they mean. Why the author chooses to describe some personalities and not others is also perplexing; again, it is evident that the novice reader is not taken into account in this otherwise magnificent and enjoyable book. Gibson's conclusion is that Salvador Dali was not a "total" genius but only a virtuoso painter; I think his immeasurable creativity is greatly downplayed by the author.
Rating:
Summary: A shame Gibson does not fully deliver... By Zvi Avigdor, MD
Review: This is an author who decides to look at the life of Salvador Dali by concentrating in his faults and dark side. The story is written based on looking at the empty half of the glass, as Gibson's thesis proclaims that this was not a great painter with a negative side, but that the painter's negative side was primordial to his artistic evolution. Still, for anyone in search of understanding the brilliance of Dali, this is the ultimate book. The genius of this Spanish painter deserves such a comprehensive work, and Ian Gibson masterfully and in detail shows the reader the artist, in the context of his time and troubled life. In all books on Dali I have encountered, I have seldom seen such thorough research; the author is to be praised twofold, because the master himself did all in his power to publicly, and in writing, come across as someone he was not. In his biography, Mr. Gibson does a phenomenal job in clarifying the artist's strange life by uncovering his mysteries, and by intellectually undoing much of his exhibitionist behavior. Dali's thought process, as well as the distortions about himself and others are analyzed and criticized, at times subliminally (as if Gibson would become surreal himself), but most of the time quite openly, and it is refreshing that such a meticulous biography can provide such reading pleasure. Gibson, who had the opportunity to briefly meet the master, interviewed dozens of people (many of them knew the painter first hand), and the scholarship found in this magnificent 800 page treatise is well documented with in depth notes and proof sources, dozens of black and white photographs of people, places and art works, and 16 pages of color art.
We must however ask what was the author's true intention when using the word "Shameful" in the book's title? If the reader is attracted by such word in order to find shocking or censurable stories, he/she will be disappointed, as there are not many of those; the shameful life meant by Gibson was the one Dali had, full of painful emotions caused by consciousness of guilt. Shameful, as in pitiful could also be an appropriate meaning of the heading. Of the shameful statements and behaviors by the master, some, unfortunately, are not well scrutinized. How interesting would have been if Gibson, for example, had better researched if Salvador's sporadic fascist views where actually a product of the subconscious he could not control, as he claimed, or very much his real feelings. Those paradox moments of early fascination with Hitler and later on with racism, that prompted Breton and the Surrealists to cut with the painter are difficult to understand, even in such a confused and manipulative individual. Gibson only simplifies such complex enigmas by saying that Dali was a renegade, who continuously changed sides in order to attract attention, or guarantee his personal survival. We find however, that this is not always the case: The Maestro, in an entry in his diary in 1952, lauds Freud and Einstein and the entire "genius of the Jewish people"; if true that he behaved according to convenience, why Salvador was so strongly anti-Semitic later in the 1960s remains a puzzle, since it only pushed the Jewish art dealers away.
Pertaining the book's content, other criticism is in order: The author attempts to cover every single aspect of Dali's life by providing amazing details which could at times even seem to be irrelevant, but then he inexplicably forgets to reveal many well known facts. A case in point, there is no reference of Dali's feelings towards the creation of the State of Israel, which he viewed as a historical development with surrealistic overtones (was he being opportunistic once again?); as to why this is significant, is because he created images in 1968 and 1972, respectively for the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the State of Israel, -works that are not even mentioned in the book. The author also neglects to mention other (albeit not so well known) data: that in 1944 the Maestro was commissioned to do 7 paintings to illustrate " The Seven Lively Arts" for the lobby of the Ziegfield Theater, that in 1965 the painter donated a work to the Rikers Island Prison in New York. Many other examples can be cited. In addition, most of the works mentioned in the book are not shown, some of them pivotal to the narrative. The novice art reader would have benefited from such graphics even if in black and white, achieving a better understanding of the items created by the painter, or by others that influenced him.
Some of the Surreal Objects mentioned should have also been portrayed; the only one represented in the book, is not Dali's. It is utmost frustrating to read the reference or even the description of paintings, objects or sculptures without having the opportunity to look at them, and this occurs repeatedly in the script. Granted, the effort in obtaining and publishing such materials would have been a great one, but it seems that Gibson's style had the purpose of thoroughness which is not achieved by the omission of these elements. Furthermore, some works mentioned in the text are depicted, but only elsewhere in the book without any indication by the author of their presence; then a picture of 1974 is placed in the narrative of Dali's life in the late eighties; it seems that the editing could have been improved. Lastly, Gibson brings up complex references regarding art styles (Dadaism, Pre-Raphaelitism), political parties, philosophical movements and art expert opinions without any clarification of what they mean. Why the author chooses to describe some personalities and not others is also perplexing; again, it is evident that the novice reader is not taken into account in this otherwise magnificent and enjoyable book. Gibson's conclusion is that Salvador Dali was not a "total" genius but only a virtuoso painter; I think his immeasurable creativity is greatly downplayed by the author.
Rating:
Summary: Unflatering Portrait of a Neurotic Genius
Review: Well researched revisionist biography of one of the century's great artists. As the title implies, the author suggests that a key to understanding Dali is his feelings of shame. Dali suffered from almost paralizing bouts of shame as a child, and struggled (not always successfully) to work around or overcompensate for them. Those with a casual interest in Dali should start off with the artist's own "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali" for many insights and a more entertaining read. The "Shamefull Life" tries to find the story behind the story. My biggest objection to this book is Gibson's almost total dismissal of Dali's art after 1940, which I fear is a prejudice based more on politics than the Dali's art itself.
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