March 16, 2004
Dali
I have to admit that I have been fairly hard on the Catalans recently, mostly because of their preposterous recent positions on taurine culture. From listening to the ranting from Barcelona, you would think that they should establish Course Comarguese. However, what they are really doing is flashing a contemptable trans-Alpine (trans-Pyranee in this case) cosmopolitanism, a persistant curse and blessing of Barcelona.
Part of what makes Barcelona a vibrant city is this cosmopolitanism, but that vibrancy is won at the expense of armies of Commies and sexual degenerates that run rampant through the Western corner of the Occitan world. Barcelona was one of the last holdouts against El Caudillo, so I will always look at them with a dose of suspicion.
In my book, Catalonia partially redeems herself with the work of three artists: Gaudi, Miro and Dali. Each one is as close to a definition of Catalan as one can get.
So, partly because I admire the author of this article, partly because I have to give some credit to these folks (I ranted about their most recent disgraceful political performance this morning, so it is fair that I post something good about them).
The article is here and the link was brought to my attention by Fr. Tucker. Enjoy.
Posted by erik at March 16, 2004 9:58 AM | TrackBackI am actually more amazed that he stayed with Gala. She was quite a character, to say the least. I have always loved Dali, and not just because he thought that Franco was a saint.
Posted by: Erik Keilholtz at March 17, 2004 10:54 AMI love Dali, even though the bulk of his stuff is nightmarish. I first was exposed to his surrealist stuff; then I saw his "Christ by John of the Cross"; then I saw his Gala paintings. What a tribute--no wonder she stayed with him!
Man, is he talented. He once said that the important thing was training yourself to know the right colors--and he certainly seemed to! I have his blues in my head all the time!
He's one of the few artists I cared enough to RESEARCH on my own, without being part of an "art history self-improvement so I won't look like a dumbass in refined company" endeavor.
Posted by: KTC at March 17, 2004 10:22 AM