Gala and Dalí’s marriage was a complex arrangement with many contradictions, Gala was Dalí’s muse, inspiration, business manager, and devoted wife for over fifty years. They initially married in 1934 in a civil ceremony, and then again in 1958 in a Catholic church after Gala received special dispensation from the Pope. Gala was a divorcee, but a committed Catholic. She had previously been married to Paul Eluard, with whom she had a daughter Cecile.
Dalí loved the idea of a wedding and had this to say in the book “Conversation with Dalí” (Alain Bosquet, 1969).
“Gala and I were already married legally when we received the blessing of the Church. The religious ceremony made the deepest impression on me: the pomp, the organs, the splendor, the seriousness, etc... My pleasure and my exaltation were so great that I wanted to marry her a second time immediately”.
On the 8th August this week, it would have been Dalí’s 62nd Wedding Anniversary and, for the occasion, the Dalí Universe wishes to celebrate #DaliandGala by sharing with you the most beautiful lines that the artist dedicated to his wife and muse Gala, taken from the "Diary of a Genius", which the Catalan artist wrote in 1963.
Alongside the most famous quotes on the relationship between Dalí and Gala, the Dalí Universe has selected some of the most significant photographs that have captured the most famous surrealist couple in the world, which, even today, dominate the spaces of world exhibitions with their expressive power, and continue to attract the attention of an ever growing audience, thus ensuring their
“immortality”.
Follow us on our social media channels! This month of August 2020 we invite you to look at the photographs we have chosen to celebrate #DaliandGala anniversary with you!
Bibliography:
Diary of a Genius, Salvador Dalí, 1963.
The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí, Salvador Dalí, 1942.
Conversation with Dalí, Alain Bosquet, 1969.
Foto: Dali and Gala's wedding picture, Meliton Casals, 1958, ©Meli Casals Image Rights of Salvador Dalí reserved. Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, 2016.
