In what city was Salvador Dali born? Salvador Dali - biography, photo, personal life of the artist: Master of shocking

Thousands of books and songs have been written about Salvador Dali, many films have been made, but it is not necessary to watch, read and listen to all this - after all, there are his paintings. The brilliant Spaniard by example proved that a whole universe lives in every person and immortalized himself in canvases that will be in the center of attention of all mankind for centuries to come. Dali has long been not just an artist, but something like a global cultural meme. How do you like the opportunity to feel like a tabloid newspaper reporter and delve into the dirty laundry of a genius?

1. Grandfather's suicide

In 1886, Gal Josep Salvador, Dali's paternal grandfather, took his own life. The grandfather of the great artist suffered from depression and mania of persecution, and in order to annoy everyone who was “watching” him, he decided to leave this mortal world.

One day he went out onto the balcony of his apartment on the third floor and began screaming that they had robbed him and tried to kill him. The arriving police were able to convince the unfortunate man not to jump from the balcony, but as it turned out, only for a while - six days later, Gal nevertheless threw himself from the balcony headfirst and died suddenly.

For obvious reasons, the Dali family tried to avoid wide publicity, so the suicide was hushed up. In the death report there was not a word about suicide, only a note that Gal died “from a traumatic brain injury,” so the suicide was buried according to Catholic rites. For a long time relatives hid the truth about their grandfather's death from Gala's grandchildren, but the artist eventually learned about this unpleasant story.

2. Masturbation Addiction

As a teenager, Salvador Dali loved, so to speak, to compare penises with his classmates, and he called his own “small, pathetic and soft.” The early erotic experiences of the future genius did not end with these harmless pranks: somehow a pornographic novel fell into his hands and what struck him most was the episode where main character boasted that he “could make a woman squeak like a watermelon.” The young man was so impressed by the power of the artistic image that, remembering this, he reproached himself for his inability to do the same with women.

In his autobiography “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali” (originally “The Unspeakable Confessions of Salvador Dali") the artist admits: “For a long time it seemed to me that I was impotent.” Probably, in order to overcome this oppressive feeling, Dali, like many boys of his age, engaged in masturbation, to which he was so addicted that throughout the life of a genius, masturbation was his main, and sometimes even the only, way of sexual satisfaction. At that time, it was believed that masturbation could lead a person to madness, homosexuality and impotence, so the artist was constantly in fear, but could not help himself.

3. Dali associated sex with rotting

One of the genius’s complexes arose due to the fault of his father, who once (on purpose or not) left a book on the piano, which was full of colorful photographs of male and female genitals, disfigured by gangrene and other diseases. Having studied the photographs that enchanted and at the same time horrified him, Dali Jr. lost interest in contacts with the opposite sex for a long time, and sex, as he later admitted, began to be associated with rotting, decomposition and decay.

Of course, the artist’s attitude towards sex is noticeably reflected in his canvases: fears and motifs of destruction and decay (most often depicted in the form of ants) are found in almost every work. For example, in The Great Masturbator, one of his most significant paintings, there is a looking down human face, from which a woman “grows,” most likely based on Dali’s wife and muse Gala. A locust sits on the face (the genius felt an inexplicable horror of this insect), along whose abdomen ants crawl - a symbol of decomposition. Woman's mouth presses to groin standing nearby men, which hints at oral sex, while cuts on the man’s legs are bleeding, indicating the artist’s fear of castration, which he experienced as a child.

4. Love is evil

In his youth, one of Dali's closest friends was the famous Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. There were rumors that Lorca even tried to seduce the artist, but Dali himself denied this. Many contemporaries of the great Spaniards said that for Lorca, the love union of the painter and Elena Dyakonova, later known as Gala Dali, was an unpleasant surprise - supposedly the poet was convinced that the genius of surrealism could only be happy with him. It must be said that despite all the gossip, there is no exact information about the nature of the relationship between the two outstanding men.

Many researchers of the artist’s life agree that before meeting Gala, Dali remained a virgin, and although at that time Gala was married to someone else, had an extensive collection of lovers, and was, after all, ten years older than him, the artist was fascinated by this woman. Art critic John Richardson wrote of her: “One of the nastiest wives a successful modern artist could choose. It’s enough to get to know her to start hating her.” At one of the artist’s first meetings with Gala, he asked what she wanted from him. This, without a doubt, extraordinary woman replied: “I want you to kill me” - after this, Dali immediately fell in love with her, completely and irrevocably.

Dali's father couldn't stand his son's passion, mistakenly believing that she was using drugs and forcing the artist to sell them. The genius insisted on continuing the relationship, as a result of which he was left without his father’s inheritance and went to Paris to his beloved, but before that, as a sign of protest, he shaved his head bald and “buried” his hair on the beach.

5. Voyeur genius

It is believed that Salvador Dali received sexual satisfaction from watching others make love or masturbate. The brilliant Spaniard even spied on his own wife, while she was taking a bath, confessed to the “exciting experience of a voyeur” and called one of his paintings “Voyeur”.

Contemporaries whispered that the artist organized orgies at his home every week, but if this is true, most likely he himself did not take part in them, content with the role of spectator. One way or another, Dali’s antics shocked and irritated even the depraved bohemia - art critic Brian Sewell, describing his acquaintance with the artist, said that Dali asked him to take off his pants and masturbate, lying in the fetal position under the statue of Jesus Christ in the painter’s garden. According to Sewell, Dali made similar strange requests to many of his guests.

Singer Cher recalls that she and her husband Sonny once went to visit the artist, and he looked like he had just participated in an orgy. When Cher began to twirl in her hands the beautifully painted rubber wand that interested her, the genius solemnly informed her that it was a vibrator.

6. George Orwell: “He is sick and his paintings are disgusting”

In 1944 famous writer dedicated an essay to the artist entitled “The Privilege of Spiritual Shepherds: Notes on Salvador Dali,” in which he expressed the opinion that the artist’s talent makes people consider him impeccable and perfect.

Orwell wrote: “Return to Shakespeare’s land tomorrow and find that his favorite pastime is free time- raping little girls in railroad cars, we shouldn't tell him to keep doing it just because he can write another King Lear. You need the ability to keep both facts in your head at the same time: the fact that Dali is a good draftsman, and the fact that he is a disgusting person.”

The writer also notes the pronounced necrophilia and coprophagia (craving for excrement) present in Dali’s paintings. One of the most famous works The “Gloomy Game”, written in 1929, is considered to be of this kind - at the bottom of the masterpiece there is a picture of a man stained with feces. Similar details are present in more later creations painter.

In his essay, Orwell concludes that “men like Dali are undesirable, and the society in which they can flourish is somehow flawed.” One might say that the writer himself admitted his unjustified idealism: after all, human world has never been and will never be perfect, and Dali’s impeccable paintings are one of the clearest evidence of this.

7. "Hidden Faces"

Salvador Dali wrote his only novel in 1943, when he and his wife were in the United States. Among other things, in literary work, which came from the hand of the artist, there are descriptions of the antics of eccentric aristocrats in the Old World engulfed in fire and drenched in blood, while the artist himself called the novel “an epitaph for pre-war Europe.”

If the artist’s autobiography can be considered a fantasy disguised as the truth, then “Hidden Faces” is more likely the truth disguised as fiction. In the book, which was sensational in its time, there is also such an episode - Adolf Hitler, who won the war, in his residence "Eagle's Nest" tries to brighten up his loneliness with the things laid out around him. priceless masterpieces art from all over the world, the music of Wagner plays, and the Fuhrer makes semi-crazy speeches about Jews and Jesus Christ.

Reviews of the novel were generally favorable, although a literary reviewer for The Times criticized the novel's whimsical style, excessive adjectives, and muddled plot. At the same time, for example, a critic from The Spectator magazine wrote about Dali’s literary experience: “It’s a psychotic mess, but I liked it.”

8. Beats, so... a genius?

The year 1980 became a turning point for the elderly Dali - the artist was paralyzed and, unable to hold a brush in his hands, he stopped painting. For a genius, this was akin to torture - he had not been balanced before, but now he began to lose his temper with or without reason, and besides, he was greatly irritated by the behavior of Gala, who spent the money she received from the sale of her brilliant husband’s paintings on young fans and lovers, and gave them gifts of her own. masterpieces, and also often disappeared from home for several days.

The artist began to beat his wife, so much so that one day he broke two of her ribs. To calm her husband down, Gala gave him Valium and other sedatives, and once gave Dali a large dose of a stimulant, which caused irreparable damage to the genius’s psyche.

The painter’s friends organized the so-called “Rescue Committee” and admitted him to the clinic, but by that time the great artist was a pitiful sight - a thin, shaking old man, constantly in fear that Gala would leave him for actor Jeffrey Fenholt, performer leading role in the Broadway production of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

9. Instead of skeletons in the closet - the corpse of the wife in the car

On June 10, 1982, Gala left the artist, but not for the sake of another man - the 87-year-old muse of the genius died in a hospital in Barcelona. According to her will, Dali was going to bury his beloved in the Pubol castle in Catalonia, which he owned, but for this, her body had to be removed without legal red tape and without attracting unnecessary attention from the press and public.

The artist found a way out, creepy but witty - he ordered Gala to be dressed, “put” the corpse in the back seat of her Cadillac, and a nurse stood nearby supporting the body. The deceased was taken to Pubol, embalmed and dressed in her favorite red Dior dress, and then buried in the castle crypt. The inconsolable husband spent several nights kneeling in front of the grave and exhausted from horror - their relationship with Gala was difficult, but the artist could not imagine how he would live without her. Dali lived in the castle almost until his death, sobbed for hours and said that he saw various animals - he began to hallucinate.

10. Infernal invalid

Just over two years after the death of his wife, Dali again experienced a real nightmare - on August 30, the bed in which the 80-year-old artist was sleeping caught fire. The cause of the fire was a short circuit in the castle's electrical wiring, believed to have been caused by the old man constantly fiddling with the maid's bell button attached to his pajamas.

When a nurse came running at the sound of the fire, she found the paralyzed genius lying at the door in a semi-fainting state and immediately rushed to give him mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration, although he tried to fight back and called her “bitch” and “murderer.” The genius survived, but received second degree burns.

After the fire, Dali became completely unbearable, although he had not previously had an easy character. A publicist from Vanity Fair noted that the artist turned into a “disabled man from hell”: he deliberately soiled bed linen, scratched nurses’ faces and refused to eat or take medications.

After recovery, Salvador Dali moved his theater-museum to the neighboring town of Figueres, where he died on January 23, 1989. Great artist he once said that he hoped to be resurrected, so he wanted his body to be frozen after death, but instead, according to his will, he was embalmed and walled up in the floor of one of the rooms of the theater-museum, where it remains to this day.

Salvador Dalí (full name Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Dalí de Púbol, cat. Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marqués de Dalí de Púbol, Spanish. Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marqués de Dalí y de Púbol; May 11, 1904 (19040511), Figueres - January 23, 1989, Figueres) - Spanish painter, graphic artist, sculptor, director, writer. One of the most famous representatives of surrealism.

Worked on the films: “Un Chien Andalou,” “The Golden Age” (directed by Luis Buñuel), “Spellbound” (directed by Alfred Hitchcock). Author of the books “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Told by Himself” (1942), “The Diary of a Genius” (1952-1963), Oui: The Paranoid-Critical Revolution (1927-33) and the essay “The Tragic Myth of Angelus Millet.”

Salvador Dali was born in Spain on May 11, 1904 in the city of Figueres, province of Girona, into the family of a wealthy notary. He was a Catalan by nationality, perceived himself as such and insisted on this peculiarity of his. He had a sister, Anna Maria Dalí (Spanish: Anna Maria Dalí, 6 January 1908 – 16 May 1989), and an older brother (12 October 1901 – 1 August 1903), who died of meningitis. Later, at the age of 5, at his grave, Salvador was told by his parents that he was the reincarnation of his older brother.

As a child, Dali was a smart, but arrogant and uncontrollable child. One day he started a scandal at retail space for the sake of the candy, a crowd gathered around, and the police asked the owner of the shop to open it during siesta and give the boy some sweets. He achieved his goal through whims and simulation, always striving to stand out and attract attention.

Numerous complexes and phobias, for example, fear of grasshoppers, prevented him from joining ordinary school life and forming ordinary bonds of friendship and sympathy with children. But, like any person, experiencing sensory hunger, he sought emotional contact with children by any means, trying to get used to their team, if not as a comrade, then in any other role, or rather the only one he was capable of - as a shocking and disobedient child, strange, eccentric, always acting contrary to other people's opinions. Losing at school gambling, he acted as if he had won and was triumphant. Sometimes he would start fights for no reason.

Classmates treated the “strange” child rather intolerantly, took advantage of his fear of grasshoppers, slipped these insects down his collar, which drove Salvador to hysterics, which he later told about in his book “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Told by Himself.”

Dali began studying fine arts at the municipal art school. From 1914 to 1918 he was educated at the Academy of the Brothers of the Marist Order in Figueres. One of his childhood friends was the future FC Barcelona footballer Josep Samitier. In 1916, with the family of Ramon Pichó, he went on vacation to the city of Cadaqués, where he became acquainted with modern art.

In 1921, at the age of 47, Dali’s mother died of breast cancer. For Dali this was a tragedy. That same year he enters the Academy of San Fernando. The drawing he prepared for the exam seemed too small to the caretaker, which he informed his father, and he, in turn, informed his son. Young Salvador erased the entire drawing from the canvas and decided to draw a new one. But he only had 3 days left before the final assessment. However, the young man was in no hurry to get to work, which greatly worried his father, who had already suffered through his quirks over many years. In the end, young Dali announced that the drawing was ready, but it was even smaller than the previous one, and this was a blow for his father. However, the teachers, due to their extremely high skill, made an exception and accepted the young eccentric into the academy.

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Biography and episodes of life Salvador Dali. When born and died Dali, memorable places and dates of important events in his life. Artist Quotes, Photo and video.

Years of life of Salvador Dali:

born May 11, 1904, died January 23, 1989

Epitaph

“Let your dark brush bathe in a sea populated with happiness and sails.”
From the poem “Ode to Salvador Dali” by Federico Garcia Lorca

Biography

It would seem that there should be no black spots in the biography of Salvador Dali, who published his diaries and autobiography with his own hands, nevertheless, with his revelations he only thickened the fog of secrecy around his name. It is still unknown what of Dali’s biography he told is true and what is fiction. For example, Dali claimed that, according to his parents, he was the reincarnation of his deceased brother. Dali himself created a myth about himself, but, as you know, there is some truth in every joke.

Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904 in the Spanish city of Figueres. He began drawing at the age of four and did it with amazing diligence and perseverance for a child, while remaining an uncontrollable, lazy and eccentric boy, which affected his studies. In his autobiography, he admits that he often pretended to be crazy in class in order to avoid a bad grade or criticism from the teacher. Already at the age of 14, he had his first exhibition, and at 17, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, from which he was kicked out a few years later for disrespect for teachers and arrogance. However, the link did not last long.

The turning point in Dali's life was 1929 - the year when he joined the surrealist movement and met Gala Eluard, who was still married at that time. It is still believed that without Gala, Salvador Dali could not have become what he became. It was she who supported his belief that he was talented, took care of everyone money matters, put things in order in his workshop, forced him to work. She completely took control of the life of the helpless and impractical Dali, and he saw her as his muse. Not everything was rosy in the relationship between the lovers - Gala had many young fans and she did not always refuse their advances. In 1968, Dali even bought a castle for Gala, which he could only visit at the invitation of his wife. At that time, Dali was already a rich and recognized artist. When the artist's muse died, it became for him great tragedy. The death of his wife, developing Parkinson's disease - all this led to the fact that last years The genius Dali spent his life alone in Gala Castle.

Salvador Dali's death occurred on January 23, 1989. At the time of Dali's death he was 84 years old. Even Salvador Dali's funeral was not like an ordinary funeral. For a week, his embalmed body stood in the Dali Theater and Museum, which he opened, so that visitors could pay tribute to the memory of Salvador Dali. Then the so-called Dali’s funeral took place - his body was walled up in the floor of one of the museum’s rooms. This is what Dali himself wanted, when he bequeathed that people would walk on his grave.



Salvador Dali with his muse and beloved wife Gala (Elena Dyakonova)

Life line

May 11, 1904 Date of birth of Salvador Dali.
1914-1918 Study at the Academy of the Brothers of the Marist Order in Figueres.
1921 Entering the Academy of San Fernando, death of Salvador Dali's mother.
1922 Moving to Madrid, studying at the Residence.
1926 Expulsion from the Academy.
1929 Joining the surrealist group, breaking up with his father.
1934 Unofficial marriage to Elena Dyakonova (Gala).
1936 The exclusion of Dali from the group of surrealists.
1940-1948 Life in the USA.
1942 Release of the autobiography “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali”.
1958 Official wedding with Gala.
1968 Buying a castle in the village of Pubol.
1973 Opening of the Dali Theater-Museum.
1981 Development of Parkinson's disease in Dali.
1982 Death of Gala, Dali receiving the title of count.
January 23, 1989 Dali's date of death.

Memorable places

1. The city of Figueres, Spain, where Salvador Dali was born.
2. Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, where Salvador Dali studied.
3. Dormitory for gifted students in Madrid “Residence”, where Dali studied.
4. Dali Theater-Museum, where Dali’s grave is located.
5. Pubol Castle, or Gala Dali Castle, which was the home of Salvador Dali in the 70s.

Episodes of life

Salvador Dali has always been distinguished by extravagance in behavior. Thus, employees of the Le Meurice hotel recalled that one day the artist demanded that a flock of sheep be brought to his room. When the sheep were brought in, Dali suddenly took out a pistol and began to shoot at the animals, but, fortunately, the pistol was loaded with blanks.

Dali was a master of jokes, pranks and eccentric acts. When he bought a castle for his wife, it turned out that getting to it was very difficult because of the bad road, which they have been trying to repair for fifteen years. Then Dali called the governor and invited him to a cup of tea. The governor arrived two hours late, complaining that the road was simply disgusting and that two tires had burst before they reached Dali. To which Salvador replied: “Yes, this worries me very much. In three weeks, Generalissimo Franco will come to visit us, and I’m afraid he will not approve of this state of affairs.” Road repairs were resumed the next morning.



Dali never changed his own style

Covenant

“Don’t be afraid of perfection: you will never achieve it!”


Documentary film "Biography of Salvador Dali"

Condolences

“Salvador Dali can be reproached for many things, but not for betraying art and creativity.”
Rudolf Balandin, writer

"He felt like a completely free man."
Enrique Sabater, friend and assistant of Salvador Dali

“He was Dali, and as he once said, every brush stroke he made was the equivalent of a tragedy he had experienced.”
Meredith Etherington-Smith, writer-biographer

Greetings to guests and regular readers! The article “Salvador Dali: biography, interesting facts, video” is about the life and work of the Spanish painter, graphic artist, sculptor, director, and writer.

It is difficult to understand such a person with your mind. But something attracts in his works. Perhaps we are missing a little of his madness. But few doubt that he was a genius. Show man, mystical man, god of imagination, king of surrealism, as they called the eccentric Salvador Dali.

He allowed himself to appear anywhere in any outfit or even without it. All his life he went against public opinion, and this way of life was chosen by him since early childhood. His real name also sounds unusual: Salvador Domenech Felip Jacinth Dali and Domenech, Marquis de Dali de Pubol.

Biography of Salvador Dali

Yes, the biography of such a personality did not go unnoticed by art critics and historians. Incredible stories hovered around the name of Salvador Dali. According to biographers studying the life of this mysterious person, it all started at birth.

In the small Spanish town of Figueres on May 11, 1904, there was a terrible, gusty wind that frightened the residents. On the same day, a boy was born who immediately showed his obnoxious character. A capricious, hysterical, spoiled child used any tricks to achieve what he wanted. Zodiac sign -

The little provocateur drove parents literally to despair. At the age of ten, Salvador already knew for sure that he would become great. A boy with ambition found himself in drawings. Even then, the makings of a master were visible in them, but with obvious signs of originality.

The passion for drawing is supported only by the mother, but for the father such an activity was not serious. In his diaries, Salvador Dali recalled his mother’s kindness and his father’s fierce pressure.

Unbridled character

Moving to Madrid at the age of eighteen made his life easier. The guy is accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts, where at first he persistently drew what the teachers demanded.

Having settled in, he finds himself in bohemian society, where he feels more confident. His appearance shocks those around him, and this delights the young man. The provincial guy learned to carouse and waste his life instantly.

Meanwhile, the father, guessing about the free morals of bohemia. He tried in any way to warn his son against various kinds of mistakes. He slipped young man books of a sanitary and educational nature.

This literature impressed the young don so much that he began to exclude even the most innocent contacts with the opposite sex. Incredibly, this will also be reflected in his work in the future.

The death of his mother, the only woman who indulged him in all sorts of whims, shocked the already emotionally unstable Salvador. A few years later, he dedicated his painting to her, but even there he left an inscription that infuriated his father.

The next fateful events did not allow the young talent to suffer for long. For his disdainful attitude towards the teachers, the madman is expelled from the academy. He immediately goes to France.

Meeting his idol, Pablo Picasso, determined the young master’s further goals. He brought his anomalous style to everything he did, be it design, jewelry, sculpture, films or paintings.

He turned the world upside down and made it his trademark. The balance between madness and practicality accompanied him everywhere. And such eccentricity was to the taste of the bohemian

“Femme fatale” or Elena Dyakonova (Gala)

One piece of luck followed another. A Russian woman, originally from Kazan, Elena Dyakonova, appears in Dali’s life. In bohemia, she has long been known as the “sinful muse of Gala.”

Salvador Dalí and Gala in the surrealist artist's studio in Paris in 1934

The wife of the poet Paul Eluard became for Salvador that unique, brilliant and serene muse to whom he dedicated more than a dozen of his creations. For Dali's sake, she leaves her husband and daughter and goes to the young genius.

Galarina. 1945. Dali Theater-Museum, Figueres, Spain

It was an incredible union that lasted for half a century. Ten years of age difference did not bother anyone. They found each other.

For Salvador, Gala was the most flexible model. Her charm was off the scale and inspired Salvador both as an artist and as a man. And for Gala, the young don became that cash flow. Her instincts never failed, and this time she was not mistaken.

Gala takes on all the responsibilities of the manager, and Salvador works hard on the paintings. After some time, the surrealist and his muse become cramped in Paris. Gala decides to go to America.

A real sensation

Intuition did not fail the mercantile woman. It was there, in a country accustomed to various fevers, that the only thing missing was surrealism. Dali presented it with all his fantasies.

“Dream” 1937. This is a fragile, unstable reality in the world of the subconscious.

The admiration of the Americans knew no bounds; they recognized the shocking Dali as the undisputed leader of world painting. For Dali there were no laws in painting, only temperament and unbridled fantasies.

The meter reached the highest level and allowed itself such liberties, as, for example, in the case of Aram Khachaturian. The rumor about the saber dance spread throughout the world. Yes, it was a crazy sight. The Great Don suffered. Apparently, he was not interested in world tragedies, the maestro was so carried away by his genius.

At a time when there was a war in the artist’s homeland, he successfully warmed up the American people with his antics and wild fantasies. The images in his paintings were so bizarre that it was impossible to even guess what was in the thoughts of the creator of surrealism.

"Geopolitical Child Watching the Birth of the New Man", 1943, USA

The master's state of affairs causes envy among his contemporaries. This man did whatever he wanted. He wrote what came to mind, and even made a fortune with his antics.

Be in hell before you die

Gala left Don Salvador before her death, although they did not stop communicating. She lived for almost ninety stormy, tireless years. After her death, the physical and emotional state of the great artist deteriorated. Old age did not spare his eternally young, eccentric personality.

The illnesses were overwhelming, the malicious “old man” was lashing out at the nurses, but he no longer had the strength to do more than spit or scratch.

None of the numerous servants heard the smell of smoke that spread throughout the castle. The exhausted master crawled to the door and lost consciousness. Servants and nurses discovered a badly burned but living genius. The hospital, treatment, skin transplants crippled the great maestro even more.

Upon discharge, the eccentric genius looked pitiful and a frail old man. His tears were constantly flowing and his hands were shaking. He left quietly. Or maybe he didn’t leave, maybe this is another masquerade?

The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Museum contemporary art, NY

On his “flowing” clock, which Salvador wrote, it was one time. This time coincided with his time! Coincidence or prediction? No one can answer this question anymore.

Shocking Salvador Dali: biography ↓

In this interesting documentary film Additional Information on the topic “Salvador Dali: biography”

). Author of books "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Told by Himself" (1942), "The Diary of a Genius"(1952-1963), Oui: The Paranoid-Critical Revolution (1927-33) and the essay “The Tragic Myth of Angelus Millet.”

Biography

Childhood

Salvador Dalí was born in Spain on May 11, 1904 in the city of Figueres, province of Girona, into the family of a wealthy notary. He was a Catalan by nationality, perceived himself as such and insisted on this peculiarity of his. Had a sister and an older brother (October 12, 1901 - August 1, 1903), who died of meningitis. Later, at the age of 5, at his grave, Salvador was told by his parents that he was the reincarnation of his older brother.

As a child, Dali was a smart, but arrogant and uncontrollable child.

Once he even started a scandal in a shopping area for the sake of a piece of candy, a crowd gathered around, and the police asked the owner of the shop to open it during siesta and give this sweetness to the naughty boy. He achieved his goal through whims and simulation, always striving to stand out and attract attention.

Numerous complexes and phobias (fear of grasshoppers and others [which?] ) prevented him from joining ordinary school life and forming ordinary connections of friendship and sympathy with children.

But, like any person, experiencing sensory hunger, he sought emotional contact with children by any means, trying to get used to their team, if not as a comrade, then in any other role, or rather the only one he was capable of - as a shocking and disobedient child, strange, eccentric, always acting contrary to other people's opinions.

When he lost in school gambling games, he acted as if he had won and celebrated. Sometimes he would start fights for no reason.

Part of the complexes that led to all this were caused by the classmates themselves: they treated the “strange” child rather intolerantly, took advantage of his fear of grasshoppers, slipped these insects down his collar, which drove Salvador to hysterics, which he later told about in his book “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Told by Himself.”

He began studying fine arts at a municipal art school. From 1914 to 1918 he was educated at the Academy of the Brothers of the Marist Order in Figueres. One of his childhood friends was the future FC Barcelona footballer Josep Samitier. In 1916, with the family of Ramon Pichó, he went on vacation to the city of Cadaqués, where he became acquainted with modern art.

Youth

1921 At the age of 47, Dali’s mother dies of breast cancer. This became a tragedy for him. The same year he entered the Academy of San Fernando. The drawing he prepared for the exam seemed too small to the caretaker, which he informed his father, and he, in turn, informed his son. Young Salvador erased the entire drawing from the canvas and decided to draw a new one. But he only had 3 days left before the final assessment. However, the young man was in no hurry to get to work, which greatly worried his father, who had already suffered through his quirks over many years. In the end, young Dali announced that the drawing was ready, but it was even smaller than the previous one, and this was a blow for his father. However, the teachers, due to their extremely high skill, made an exception and accepted the young eccentric into the academy.

In 1922 he moved to the “Residence” (Spanish. Residencia de Estudiantes ) (student hostel in Madrid for gifted young people) and begins his studies. In those years, everyone noted his panache. At this time he met Luis Buñuel, Federico García Lorca, Pedro Garfias. He reads Freud's works with enthusiasm.

Familiarity with new trends in painting develops - Dali experiments with the methods of Cubism and Dadaism. In 1926, he was expelled from the Academy for his arrogant and disdainful attitude towards teachers. In the same year he goes to Paris for the first time, where he meets Pablo Picasso. Trying to find own style, in the late 1920s creates a number of works influenced by Picasso and Joan Miró. In 1929, he participated with Buñuel in the creation of the surreal film “Un Chien Andalou”.

At the same time, he first meets his future wife Gala (Elena Dmitrievna Dyakonova), who was then the wife of the poet Paul Eluard. Having become close to Salvador, Gala, however, continued to meet with her husband and started relationships with other poets and artists, which at that time seemed acceptable in those bohemian circles where Dali, Eluard and Gala moved. Realizing that he actually stole his friend’s wife, Salvador paints his portrait as “compensation.”

Youth

Dali's works are shown at exhibitions, he is gaining popularity. In 1929 he joined the surrealist group organized by Andre Breton. At the same time, there is a break with his father. The hostility of the artist’s family towards Gala, the associated conflicts, scandals, as well as the inscription made by Dali on one of the canvases - “Sometimes I spit with pleasure on the portrait of my mother” - led to the fact that the father cursed his son and kicked him out of the house. The provocative, shocking and seemingly terrible actions of the artist were not always worth understanding literally and seriously: he probably did not want to offend his mother and did not even imagine what this would lead to, perhaps he longed to experience a series of feelings and experiences that he stimulated in such a blasphemous, at first glance, act. But the father, upset by the long-ago death of his wife, whom he loved and whose memory he carefully preserved, could not stand his son’s antics, which became the last straw for him. In retaliation, the indignant Salvador Dali sent his sperm to his father in an envelope with an angry letter: “This is all I owe you.” Later, in the book “The Diary of a Genius,” the artist, already an elderly man, speaks well of his father, admits that he loved him very much and endured the suffering caused by his son.

In 1934, he unofficially married Gala (the official wedding took place in 1958 in the Spanish town of Girona). In the same year he visited the USA for the first time.

Break with the surrealists

At the beginning of 1989, Dali was hospitalized with a diagnosis of heart failure. Sick and infirm, Dali died on January 23, 1989.

The only intelligible phrase he uttered during the years of illness was “My friend Lorca”: the artist recalled the years of his happy, healthy youth, when he was friends with the poet Federico García Lorca.

The artist bequeathed to bury him so that people could walk on the grave, so Dali’s body is walled up in the floor in one of the rooms of the Dali Theater-Museum in the city of Figueres. He bequeathed all his works to Spain.

Creation

Theater

Salvador Dali is the author of the libretto and design of the ballet “Bacchanalia” (music by Richard Wagner, choreography by Leonid Massine, Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo).

Cinema

In 1945, in collaboration with Walt Disney, he began work on animated film Destino. Production was then delayed due to financial problems; The Walt Disney Company released the film this year.

Design

Salvador Dali is the author of the packaging design for Chupa Chups. Enrique Bernat called his caramel "Chups", and at first it had only seven flavors: strawberry, lemon, mint, orange, chocolate, coffee with cream and strawberry with cream. The popularity of “Chups” grew, the amount of caramel produced increased, and new flavors appeared. Caramel could no longer remain in its original modest wrapper; it was necessary to come up with something original so that “Chups” would be recognized by everyone. Enrique Bernat turned to his fellow countryman, the famous artist Salvador Dali, with a request to draw something memorable. The brilliant artist did not think long and in less than an hour sketched out a picture for him, which depicted the Chupa Chups daisy, which, in a slightly modified form, is today recognizable as the Chupa Chups logo in all corners of the planet. The difference between the new logo was its location: it is located not on the side, but on top of the candy

Sculptures

  • 1969-1979 - Clot Collection, a series of 44 bronze statues created by the artist in his home in Port Ligat.

    Dali. Caballo.JPG

    Horse and rider stumbling

    Dalí DonQuijotesentado.JPG

    Seated Don Quixote

    Dali. Elefantecósmico.JPG

    Space elephant

    Gala in the window

    Dali. GalaGradiva.JPG

    Dalí.Perseo.JPG

Image in cinema

Year A country Name Director Salvador Dali
Sweden Sweden The Adventures of Picasso Tage Danielsson
Germany Germany
Spain Spain
Mexico Mexico
Buñuel and King Solomon's Table Carlos Saura Ernesto Alterio
UK UK
Spain Spain
Echoes of the past Paul Morrison Robert Pattison
USA USA
Spain Spain
Midnight in Paris Woody Allen Adrien Brody
1991 Spain Dali Antonio Ribas Lorenzo Quinn

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Notes

Literature

  • 1974 Robert Desharnes. Salvador Dali. Ed. DuMont Buchverlag, 164 pp., ISBN 3-7701-0753-5;
  • 1990 George Orwell. The privilege of spiritual shepherds. Essay. - Lenizdat,
  • 1992 A. I. Rozhin Salvador Dali. Ed. Republic, 224 pp., circulation 75,000 copies, ISBN 5-250-01946-3;
  • 1992 E. V. Zavadskaya Salvador Dali. Ed. art, 64 pp., circulation 50,000 copies, ISBN 5-85200-236-4;
  • 1995 Gilles Neret. Salvador Dali. 1904-1989 = Salvador Dali / Gilles Neret. - Koeln: TASCHEN, 95 pp. (In German) ISBN 3-8228-9520-2;
  • 2001 Nicola Descharnes, Robert Descharnes. Ed. White City, 382 pp., ISBN 5-7793-0325-8;
    • 1996 (erroneous);
  • 2002 Meredith Etherington-Smith. "Salvador Dali" (Translation by E. G. Handel). Ed. Medley, 560 pp., circulation 11,000 copies, ISBN 985-438-781-X, ISBN 0-679-40061-3;
  • 2006 Robert Descharnes, Gilles Neret. Dali. Ed. Taschen, 224 pp., ISBN 3-8228-5008-X;
  • 2008 Delassin S. Gala for Dali. Biography of a married couple. M., Text, 186 pp., circulation: 5000, ISBN 978-5-7516-0682-4
  • 2009 Olga Morozova. Burnt alive. Scandalous biography Salvador Dali. Ed. Funky Inc., 224 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-5-903912-70-4;
  • 2010 Salvador Dali. Thoughts and anecdotes. Pensees et anecdotes. Ed. Text, 176 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-5-7516-0923-8;
  • 2011 S. S. Pirozhnik. Salvador Dali. Ed. Harvest, 128 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-985-16-1274-7;
  • 2011 V. G. Yaskov Salvador Dali. Ed. Eksmo, 12 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-47135-5;
  • 2012 Salvador Dali. My secret life. La Vie Secrete De Salvador. (Translation by E. G. Handel) Ed. Medley, 640 pp., circulation 5100 copies, ISBN 978-985-15-1620-5;
  • 2012 Salvador Dali. Diary of a genius. Journal D'un Genie. (Translation by O. G. Sokolnik, T. A. Zhdan) Ed. Medley, 336 pp., circulation 5100 copies, ISBN 978-985-15-1619-9;
    • 2014 Salvador Dali. Diary of a genius. Journal D'un Genie. Ed. ABC, ABC-Atticus, 288 pp., circulation 5000 copies, ISBN 978-5-389-08671-5;
  • 2012 Robert Descharnes, Nicolas Descharnes. Salvador Dali / Salvador Dali. Album. Ed. Edita, 384 pp., ISBN 5-7793-0325-8;
    • 2008 Ed. White City
  • 2013 R. K. Balandin Salvador Dali art and outrageousness. Ed. Veche, 320 pp., circulation 5000 copies, ISBN 978-5-4444-1036-3;
  • 2013 Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali. Ed. Book club"Family Leisure Club" Belgorod, Book Club “Family Leisure Club”. Kharkov, 900 pp., circulation 500 copies, ISBN 978-5-9910-2130-2;
  • 2013 Dali near and far. Digest of articles. Rep. editor Busev M. A. M., Progress-Tradition, 416 pp., circulation 500 copies, ISBN 978-5-89826-406-2
  • 2014 Salvador Dali. Hidden faces. Ostros Ocultos (Visages Caches/Hidden Faces). (Translation by L. M. Tsyvyan) Ed. Eksmo, 512 pp., circulation 7000 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-70849-9;
  • 2014 Katherine Ingram. The brilliant Dali. This is DaLi (Translation by T. Platonov). Ed. Eksmo, 80 pp., circulation 3150 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-70398-2;

Links

  • - Tretyakov Gallery Magazine, #4 2015 (49)

Excerpt characterizing Dali, Salvador

At dinner, having seated Balashev next to him, he treated him not only kindly, but treated him as if he considered Balashev among his courtiers, among those people who sympathized with his plans and should have rejoiced at his successes. Among other things, he started talking about Moscow and began asking Balashev about the Russian capital, not only as an inquisitive traveler asks about a new place that he intends to visit, but as if with the conviction that Balashev, as a Russian, should be flattered by this curiosity.
– How many inhabitants are there in Moscow, how many houses? Is it true that Moscow is called Moscou la sainte? [saint?] How many churches are there in Moscow? - he asked.
And in response to the fact that there are more than two hundred churches, he said:
– Why such an abyss of churches?
“Russians are very pious,” answered Balashev.
- However, a large number of monasteries and churches are always a sign of the backwardness of the people,” said Napoleon, looking back at Caulaincourt for an assessment of this judgment.
Balashev respectfully allowed himself to disagree with the opinion of the French emperor.
“Every country has its own customs,” he said.
“But nowhere in Europe is there anything like this,” said Napoleon.
“I apologize to your Majesty,” said Balashev, “besides Russia, there is also Spain, where there are also many churches and monasteries.”
This answer from Balashev, which hinted at the recent defeat of the French in Spain, was highly appreciated later, according to Balashev’s stories, at the court of Emperor Alexander and was appreciated very little now, at Napoleon’s dinner, and passed unnoticed.
It was clear from the indifferent and perplexed faces of the gentlemen marshals that they were perplexed as to what the joke was, which Balashev’s intonation hinted at. “If there was one, then we did not understand her or she is not at all witty,” said the expressions on the faces of the marshals. This answer was so little appreciated that Napoleon did not even notice it and naively asked Balashev about which cities there is a direct road to Moscow from here. Balashev, who was on the alert all the time during dinner, answered that comme tout chemin mene a Rome, tout chemin mene a Moscow, [just as every road, according to the proverb, leads to Rome, so all roads lead to Moscow,] that there are many roads, and that among these different paths is the road to Poltava, which was chosen by Charles XII, said Balashev, involuntarily flushing with pleasure at the success of this answer. Before Balashev had time to finish the last words: “Poltawa,” Caulaincourt began talking about the inconveniences of the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow and about his St. Petersburg memories.
After lunch we went to drink coffee in Napoleon’s office, which four days ago had been the office of Emperor Alexander. Napoleon sat down, touching the coffee in a Sevres cup, and pointed to Balashev’s chair.
There is a certain after-dinner mood in a person that, stronger than any reasonable reason, makes a person be pleased with himself and consider everyone his friends. Napoleon was in this position. It seemed to him that he was surrounded by people who adored him. He was convinced that Balashev, after his dinner, was his friend and admirer. Napoleon turned to him with a pleasant and slightly mocking smile.
– This is the same room, as I was told, in which Emperor Alexander lived. Strange, isn't it, General? - he said, obviously without doubting that this address could not but be pleasant to his interlocutor, since it proved the superiority of him, Napoleon, over Alexander.
Balashev could not answer this and silently bowed his head.
“Yes, in this room, four days ago, Wintzingerode and Stein conferred,” Napoleon continued with the same mocking, confident smile. “What I cannot understand,” he said, “is that Emperor Alexander brought all my personal enemies closer to himself.” I do not understand this. Didn't he think that I could do the same? - he asked Balashev with a question, and, obviously, this memory pushed him again into that trace of morning anger that was still fresh in him.
“And let him know that I will do it,” said Napoleon, standing up and pushing his cup away with his hand. - I will expel all his relatives from Germany, Wirtemberg, Baden, Weimar... yes, I will expel them. Let him prepare refuge for them in Russia!
Balashev bowed his head, showing with his appearance that he would like to take his leave and is listening only because he cannot help but listen to what is being said to him. Napoleon did not notice this expression; he addressed Balashev not as an ambassador of his enemy, but as a man who was now completely devoted to him and should rejoice at the humiliation of his former master.
– And why did Emperor Alexander take command of the troops? What is this for? War is my craft, and his business is to reign, not to command troops. Why did he take on such responsibility?
Napoleon again took the snuffbox, silently walked around the room several times and suddenly suddenly approached Balashev and with a slight smile, so confidently, quickly, simply, as if he were doing something not only important, but also pleasant for Balashev, he raised his hand to the face of the forty-year-old Russian general and, taking him by the ear, tugged him slightly, smiling with only his lips.
– Avoir l"oreille tiree par l"Empereur [Being torn out by the ear by the emperor] was considered the greatest honor and favor at the French court.
“Eh bien, vous ne dites rien, admirateur et courtisan de l"Empereur Alexandre? [Well, why aren’t you saying anything, admirer and courtier of Emperor Alexander?] - he said, as if it was funny to be someone else’s in his presence courtisan and admirateur [court and admirer], except for him, Napoleon.
-Are the horses ready for the general? – he added, slightly bowing his head in response to Balashev’s bow.
- Give him mine, he has a long way to go...
The letter brought by Balashev was last letter Napoleon to Alexander. All the details of the conversation were conveyed to the Russian emperor, and the war began.

After his meeting in Moscow with Pierre, Prince Andrey left for St. Petersburg on business, as he told his relatives, but, in essence, in order to meet there Prince Anatoly Kuragin, whom he considered necessary to meet. Kuragin, whom he inquired about when he arrived in St. Petersburg, was no longer there. Pierre let his brother-in-law know that Prince Andrei was coming to pick him up. Anatol Kuragin immediately received an appointment from the Minister of War and left for the Moldavian Army. At the same time, in St. Petersburg, Prince Andrei met Kutuzov, his former general, always disposed towards him, and Kutuzov invited him to go with him to the Moldavian Army, where the old general was appointed commander-in-chief. Prince Andrei, having received the appointment to be at the headquarters of the main apartment, left for Turkey.
Prince Andrei considered it inconvenient to write to Kuragin and summon him. Without giving a new reason for the duel, Prince Andrei considered the challenge on his part to be compromising Countess Rostov, and therefore he sought a personal meeting with Kuragin, in which he intended to find a new reason for the duel. But in the Turkish army he also failed to meet Kuragin, who soon after the arrival of Prince Andrei in the Turkish army returned to Russia. In a new country and in new living conditions, life became easier for Prince Andrei. After the betrayal of his bride, which struck him the more diligently the more diligently he hid the effect it had on him from everyone, the living conditions in which he was happy were difficult for him, and even more difficult were the freedom and independence that he had so valued before. Not only did he not think those previous thoughts that first came to him while looking at the sky on the Field of Austerlitz, which he loved to develop with Pierre and which filled his solitude in Bogucharovo, and then in Switzerland and Rome; but he was even afraid to remember these thoughts, which revealed endless and bright horizons. He was now interested only in the most immediate, practical interests, unrelated to his previous ones, which he grabbed with the greater greed, the more closed from him the previous ones were. It was as if that endless receding vault of the sky that had previously stood above him suddenly turned into a low, definite, oppressive vault, in which everything was clear, but there was nothing eternal and mysterious.
Of the activities presented to him, military service was the simplest and most familiar to him. Holding the position of general on duty at Kutuzov's headquarters, he persistently and diligently went about his business, surprising Kutuzov with his willingness to work and accuracy. Not finding Kuragin in Turkey, Prince Andrei did not consider it necessary to jump after him again to Russia; but for all that, he knew that, no matter how much time passed, he could not, having met Kuragin, despite all the contempt that he had for him, despite all the proofs that he made to himself that he should not humiliate himself to the point of confrontation with him, he knew that, having met him, he could not help but call him, just as a hungry man could not help but rush to food. And this consciousness that the insult had not yet been taken out, that the anger had not been poured out, but lay in the heart, poisoned the artificial calm that Prince Andrei had arranged for himself in Turkey in the form of preoccupied, busy and somewhat ambitious and vain activities.
In 12, when news of the war with Napoleon reached Bukarest (where Kutuzov lived for two months, spending days and nights with his Wallachian), Prince Andrei asked Kutuzov to transfer to the Western Army. Kutuzov, who was already tired of Bolkonsky with his activities, which served as a reproach for his idleness, Kutuzov very willingly let him go and gave him an assignment to Barclay de Tolly.
Before going to the army, which was in the Drissa camp in May, Prince Andrei stopped at Bald Mountains, which were on his very road, located three miles from the Smolensk highway. The last three years and the life of Prince Andrei there were so many upheavals, he changed his mind, experienced so much, re-saw (he traveled both west and east), that he was strangely and unexpectedly struck when entering Bald Mountains - everything was exactly the same, down to the smallest detail - exactly the same course of life. As if he were entering an enchanted, sleeping castle, he drove into the alley and into the stone gates of the Lysogorsk house. The same sedateness, the same cleanliness, the same silence were in this house, the same furniture, the same walls, the same sounds, the same smell and the same timid faces, only somewhat older. Princess Marya was still the same timid, ugly, aging girl, in fear and eternal moral suffering, living without benefit or joy best years own life. Bourienne was the same flirtatious girl, joyfully enjoying every minute of her life and filled with the most joyful hopes for herself, pleased with herself. She only became more confident, as it seemed to Prince Andrei. The teacher Desalles brought from Switzerland was dressed in a frock coat of Russian cut, distorting the language, spoke Russian with the servants, but he was still the same limitedly intelligent, educated, virtuous and pedantic teacher. The old prince changed physically only in that the lack of one tooth became noticeable on the side of his mouth; morally he was still the same as before, only with even greater embitterment and distrust of the reality of what was happening in the world. Only Nikolushka grew up, changed, became flushed, acquired curly dark hair and, without knowing it, laughing and having fun, raised the upper lip of his pretty mouth in the same way as the deceased little princess raised it. He alone did not obey the law of immutability in this enchanted, sleeping castle. But although in appearance everything remained the same, the internal relations of all these persons had changed since Prince Andrei had not seen them. The members of the family were divided into two camps, alien and hostile to each other, which now converged only in his presence - for him, changing their usual way of life. belonged to one old prince, m lle Bourienne and the architect, to another - Princess Marya, Desalles, Nikolushka and all the nannies and mothers.
During his stay in Bald Mountains, everyone at home dined together, but everyone felt awkward, and Prince Andrei felt that he was a guest for whom they were making an exception, that he was embarrassing everyone with his presence. During lunch on the first day, Prince Andrei, involuntarily feeling this, was silent, and the old prince, noticing the unnaturalness of his state, also fell gloomily silent and now after lunch went to his room. When Prince Andrei came to him in the evening and, trying to stir him up, began to tell him about the campaign of the young Count Kamensky, the old prince unexpectedly began a conversation with him about Princess Marya, condemning her for her superstition, for her dislike for m lle Bourienne, who, according to According to him, there was one truly devoted to him.
The old prince said that if he was sick, it was only because of Princess Marya; that she deliberately torments and irritates him; that she spoils little Prince Nikolai with self-indulgence and stupid speeches. The old prince knew very well that he was torturing his daughter, that her life was very hard, but he also knew that he could not help but torment her and that she deserved it. “Why doesn’t Prince Andrei, who sees this, tell me anything about his sister? - thought the old prince. - What does he think, that I’m a villain or an old fool, I moved away from my daughter for no reason and brought the French woman closer to me? He doesn’t understand, and therefore we need to explain to him, we need him to listen,” thought the old prince. And he began to explain the reasons why he could not stand his daughter’s stupid character.
“If you ask me,” said Prince Andrey, without looking at his father (he condemned his father for the first time in his life), “I didn’t want to talk; but if you ask me, then I will tell you frankly my opinion about all this. If there are misunderstandings and discord between you and Masha, then I cannot blame her in any way - I know how much she loves and respects you. If you ask me,” Prince Andrei continued, getting irritated, because he was always ready for irritation in Lately, - then I can say one thing: if there are misunderstandings, then they are caused by an insignificant woman who should not have been her sister’s friend.
At first the old man looked at his son with fixed eyes and unnaturally revealed with a smile a new tooth deficiency, which Prince Andrei could not get used to.
-What kind of girlfriend, darling? A? I've already spoken! A?
“Father, I didn’t want to be a judge,” said Prince Andrei in a bilious and harsh tone, “but you called me, and I said and will always say that Princess Marya is not to blame, but it’s the fault... this Frenchwoman is to blame...”
“And he awarded!.. he awarded!” the old man said in a quiet voice and, as it seemed to Prince Andrei, with embarrassment, but then suddenly he jumped up and shouted: “Get out, get out!” May your spirit not be here!..

Prince Andrey wanted to leave immediately, but Princess Marya begged him to stay another day. On this day, Prince Andrei did not see his father, who did not go out and did not allow anyone to see him except M lle Bourienne and Tikhon, and asked several times whether his son had left. The next day, before leaving, Prince Andrei went to see his son's half. A healthy, curly-haired boy sat on his lap. Prince Andrei began to tell him the tale of Bluebeard, but, without finishing it, he became lost in thought. He was not thinking about this pretty boy son while he was holding him on his lap, but was thinking about himself. He searched in horror and found in himself neither remorse for having irritated his father, nor regret that he (in a quarrel for the first time in his life) was leaving him. The most important thing for him was that he was looking for and did not find that former tenderness for his son, which he hoped to arouse in himself by caressing the boy and sitting him on his lap.
“Well, tell me,” said the son. Prince Andrei, without answering him, took him down from the pillars and left the room.
As soon as Prince Andrei left his daily activities, especially as soon as he entered into the previous conditions of life in which he had been even when he was happy, the melancholy of life gripped him with the same force, and he hurried to quickly get away from these memories and find something to do quickly.
– Are you going decisively, Andre? - his sister told him.
“Thank God I can go,” said Prince Andrey, “I’m very sorry that you can’t.”
- Why are you saying this! - said Princess Marya. - Why are you saying this now, when you are going to this terrible war and he is so old! M lle Bourienne said that he asked about you... - As soon as she began to talk about this, her lips trembled and tears began to fall. Prince Andrei turned away from her and began to walk around the room.
- Oh my god! My God! - he said. – And just think about what and who – what insignificance can be the cause of people’s misfortune! - he said with anger, which frightened Princess Marya.
She realized that, speaking about the people whom he called nonentities, he meant not only m lle Bourienne, who made him misfortune, but also the person who ruined his happiness.
“Andre, I ask one thing, I beg you,” she said, touching his elbow and looking at him with shining eyes through tears. – I understand you (Princess Marya lowered her eyes). Don't think that it was people who caused the grief. People are his instrument. “She looked a little higher than Prince Andrei’s head with that confident, familiar look with which they look at a familiar place in a portrait. - The grief was sent to them, not people. People are his tools, they are not to blame. If it seems to you that someone is to blame for you, forget it and forgive. We have no right to punish. And you will understand the happiness of forgiving.
– If I were a woman, I would do this, Marie. This is the virtue of a woman. But a man should not and cannot forget and forgive,” he said, and, although he had not thought about Kuragin until that moment, all the unresolved anger suddenly rose in his heart. “If Princess Marya is already trying to persuade me to forgive me, then it means I should have been punished a long time ago,” he thought. And, no longer answering Princess Marya, he now began to think about that joyful, angry moment when he would meet Kuragin, who (he knew) was in the army.
Princess Marya begged her brother to wait another day, saying that she knew how unhappy her father would be if Andrei left without making peace with him; but Prince Andrei replied that he would probably soon come back from the army again, that he would certainly write to his father, and that now the longer he stayed, the more this discord would be fueled.
– Adieu, Andre! Rappelez vous que les malheurs viennent de Dieu, et que les hommes ne sont jamais coupables, [Farewell, Andrey! Remember that misfortunes come from God and that people are never to blame.] – were last words, which he heard from his sister when he said goodbye to her.
“This is how it should be! - thought Prince Andrei, driving out of the alley of the Lysogorsk house. “She, a pitiful innocent creature, is left to be devoured by a crazy old man.” The old man feels that he is to blame, but cannot change himself. My boy is growing up and enjoying a life in which he will be the same as everyone else, deceived or deceiving. I'm going to the army, why? - I don’t know myself, and I want to meet that person whom I despise, in order to give him a chance to kill me and laugh at me! And before there were all the same living conditions, but before they were all connected with each other, but now everything has fallen apart. Some senseless phenomena, without any connection, one after another presented themselves to Prince Andrei.

Prince Andrei arrived at the army headquarters at the end of June. The troops of the first army, the one with which the sovereign was located, were located in a fortified camp near Drissa; the troops of the second army retreated, trying to connect with the first army, from which - as they said - they were cut off by large forces of the French. Everyone was dissatisfied with the general course of military affairs in the Russian army; but no one thought about the danger of an invasion of the Russian provinces, no one imagined that the war could be transferred further than the western Polish provinces.
Prince Andrei found Barclay de Tolly, to whom he was assigned, on the banks of the Drissa. Since there was not a single large village or town in the vicinity of the camp, the entire huge number of generals and courtiers who were with the army were located in a circle of ten miles along the best houses villages on this side and on the other side of the river. Barclay de Tolly stood four miles from the sovereign. He received Bolkonsky dryly and coldly and said in his German accent that he would report him to the sovereign to determine his appointment, and in the meantime he asked him to be at his headquarters. Anatoly Kuragin, whom Prince Andrei hoped to find in the army, was not here: he was in St. Petersburg, and this news was pleasant for Bolkonsky. Prince Andrei was interested in the center of the huge war taking place, and he was glad to be free for a while from the irritation that the thought of Kuragin produced in him. During the first four days, during which he was not required anywhere, Prince Andrei traveled around the entire fortified camp and, with the help of his knowledge and conversations with knowledgeable people, tried to form a definite concept about him. But the question of whether this camp was profitable or unprofitable remained unresolved for Prince Andrei. He had already managed to derive from his military experience the conviction that in military affairs the most thoughtfully thought-out plans mean nothing (as he saw it in the Austerlitz campaign), that everything depends on how one responds to unexpected and impossible-to-foresee actions of the enemy, that everything depends on how and by whom the whole business is conducted. In order to understand this last question, Prince Andrei, taking advantage of his position and acquaintances, tried to understand the nature of the administration of the army, the persons and parties participating in it, and derived for himself the following concept of the state of affairs.