Gala Dalí | |
|---|---|
 Salvador Dalí,Portrait of Galarina (1940–1945) | |
| Born | Elena Ivanovna Diakonova (Елена Ивановна Дьяконова) (1894-09-07)7 September 1894 |
| Died | 10 June 1982(1982-06-10) (aged 87) Port Lligat, Spain |
| Resting place | Castle of Púbol,Girona, Spain |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Gala Dalí (bornElena Ivanovna Diakonova, Елена Ивановна Дьяконова; 7 September [O.S. 26 August] 1894 – 10 June 1982), usually known simply asGala, was the wife of poetPaul Éluard (1895–1952) and later of artistSalvador Dalí (1904-1989), who were both prominent insurrealism. She also inspired many other writers and artists.
Gala was born as Elena Ivanovna Diakonova[1] (Russian: Елена Ивановна Дьяконова) inKazan,Russian Empire, to a family of intellectuals. Among her childhood friends was the poetMarina Tsvetaeva. She began working as a schoolteacher in 1915, at which time she was living in Moscow.
In 1912, she was sent to asanatorium at Clavadel, nearDavos in Switzerland for the treatment oftuberculosis. She metPaul Éluard while in Switzerland and fell in love with him. They were both seventeen. It is during this time that Éluard gave her the nickname "Gala", which she continued to use throughout her life. In 1916, duringWorld War I, she traveled from Russia to Paris to reunite with him; they were married one year later. They had one child, daughter Cécile (11 May 1918 — 10 August 2016). Gala detested motherhood, mistreating and ignoring her child.[2]
With Éluard, Gala became involved in theSurrealist movement. She was an inspiration for many artists including Éluard,Louis Aragon,Max Ernst, andAndré Breton. Breton later despised her, claiming she was a destructive influence on the artists she befriended.[3] She, Éluard, and Ernst spent three years in aménage à trois,[4] from 1924 to 1927. In early August 1929, Éluard and Gala visited a young Surrealist painter in Spain, the emergingSalvador Dalí. An affair quickly developed between Gala and Dalí, who was about 10 years younger than she. Nevertheless, even after the breakup of their marriage, Éluard and Gala continued to be close.[5]
After living together since 1929, Dalí and Gala married in a civil ceremony in 1934, and remarried in aCatholic ceremony in 1958[6] in thePyrenean hamlet of Montrejic. Due to his purportedphobia of female genitalia, Dalí was said to have been avirgin when they met on theCosta Brava in 1929.[2] Around that time she was found to haveuterine fibroids, for which she underwent ahysterectomy in 1936. She was Dalí'smuse, directly inspiring and appearing in many of his works.[7]
In the early 1930s, Dalí started to sign his paintings with his and her name as "(i)t is mostly with your blood, Gala, that I paint my pictures".[2] He stated that Gala acted as his agent, and aided in redirecting his focus. Gala had a strong libido and, throughout her marriage with Dalí, had numerous other sexual partners, including her former husband Paul Éluard. Dalí encouraged her, since he was a practitioner ofcandaulism. She had a fondness for young artists, and in her old age she often gave expensive gifts to those who associated with her.[2]
In 1968, Dalí bought Gala theCastle of Púbol,Girona, where she would spend time every summer from 1971 to 1980. He also agreed not to visit there without getting advance permission from her in writing.[8]
Gala died inPort Lligat inCatalonia, Spain, early in the morning of 10 June 1982, at the age of 87.[7] In the months before her death, Gala had battled a severe case ofinfluenza, after which she began to exhibit signs ofdementia.[9][10] She wasinterred in theCastle of Púbol, which her husband had purchased for her in 1968, in a crypt with achessboard style pattern.[11]
Gala is a frequent model in Dalí's work, often in religious roles such as theVirgin Mary in the 1949 paintingThe Madonna of Port Lligat. His paintings of her show his great love for her, and some are perhaps the most affectionate and sensual depictions of a middle-aged woman in Western art.[citation needed] Among the paintings she served as a model for are:Imperial Monument to the Child-Woman, Gala (1929);Memory of the Child-Woman (1932);The Angelus of Gala (1935);Gala and "The Angelus" of Millet before the Imminent Arrival of the Conical Anamorphoses (1933);William Tell and Gradiva (1931);The Old Age of William Tell (1931);The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1958–59);The Ecumenical Council (1960);Corpus Hypercubus (1954); andGalatea of the Spheres (1952).Gala served a model for other surrealists, including Max Ernst in his 1924 paintingGala Éluard.
InPortrait of Galarina (1940–1945), Gala's face is shown severe and confrontational, her bared breast meant to depict bread, and the snake on the arm a gift of Dalí's sponsorEdward James.[2]
Gala, played byDita Von Teese, is a major character in the 2005 short filmThe Death of Salvador Dali.
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