by Alonzo Garbonzo on May 20th, 2005

Alonzo Garbonzo

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Was Salvador Dali a real artist or just a flamboyant self-promoter? How would one know the difference?

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  • by RedJohn on October 2nd, 2005

    RedJohn

    Art is just the name of some cat I once knew.

    Any discussion about art and artists involves people arguing back and forth, sometimes for decades, about whether 'X' is an artist, an 'artist', a genious, or a hack. Such arguments have no solution in most cases. Some people claim that art is in the eye of the beholder. Some think everything anyone does is art, but the dictionary would disagree. Some hold out for those who are formally trained and approved by 22 of the world's 23 most important art critics.

    If Dali hits your 'art button', feel free to think of him as an artist. He was highly creative and most certainly a flamboyant self-promoter, but he is in good company there. He was more flamboyant than most and this rubs some people the wrong way. Artists are supposed to be dedicated to a noble craft, starve in a garret, and be discovered as creative geniouses after they die in poverty. (After which the art dealers can make the profits they refused the artist in life.) Dali was anything but. His imagery is often disturbing and this produces a negative reaction in some. Art is supposed to be beautiful and uplifting, after all.

    In short, Dali was a 'real' artist AND he was a flamboyant self-promoter. The latter does not negate the former.

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