Genius Artist

There was an artist who declared himself as a genius to the world that was longing for geniuses. The artist was famed surrealist painter Salvador Dali.

Even if you are not very interested in painting, you’d probably remember watches melted and stretched like a tongue. Dali’s watches, which are as soft as a slice of cheese, are often seen on advertisements and art textbooks. Thanks to the invention of Dali’s melting watches, people who were eager to become as accurate as watches could release their tension and afford some time to relax. In addition, people were also liberated from the preconception that time is continuously precise and solid.

Such that Dali is qualified to be called a genius since he has given modern day people, who have become slaves of time, a primary watch.

In fact, the term “genius” is one of the most provocative words that make ordinary people feel inferior. By the way, how do we define a genius? “By imagination and by the activity of the soul, the genius inwardly animates the represented objects,” said Denis Diderot, a French encyclopedist and philosopher.

Dali perfectly fits to Denis’ notion of genius because he awoke the dormant consciousness of people with ingenious ideas and great imagination gushing like spring water.

The book I will introduce today is “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali.” This autobiography reveals Dali’s unorthodox view on art, love, life, and internal struggles. In the book, Dali also explicitly discloses his shamefully childish ideas, blasphemously liberal notion of sex, monomaniacal view of the world, and selfishness filled with the pride of being a genius. However, we should not accuse him of being a big braggart because it is the privilege of a genius artist. Imagine that if he was not convinced about himself, or if he did not respect himself, would he have been able to be so madly immersed in his artwork?

French poet Jean Cocteau also said, “A genius falls in love with himself.”

The ages between three and seven years are often referred to as the golden age of creativity. During the period, children passionately learn about the world and explosively expand their creativity and imagination based on accumulated curiosity and inquiring minds. In this sense, you can say that Dali is a perpetual child. And then suddenly, while reading the book, the fiction “The Tin Drum” and the film “Amadeus” came to my mind.

The protagonist Oscar of “The Tin Drum” rejects the world filled with hypocrisy and hatred and voluntarily stops his physical growth on his third birthday in order not to be contaminated by the wicked world. He chooses to live as a boy forever. Meanwhile, Antonio Salieri curses the god who gave him the gift to recognize geniuses instead of making himself a genius. Salieri eventually kills Mozart, who makes him feel inferior, and goes down the road to self-destruction.

Geniuses make us zealous, envious, and yet amazed.

If you want to know the secrets of Dali, a genius and permanent child, I strongly recommend you to read the autobiography of this great alchemist who transformed daily life into a dream and vice-versa.