Just Being Dalí: The Story of Artist Salvador Dalí by Amy Guglielmo (review)

The irrepressible Dalí was as much a phenomenon as an artist, and this picture book biography wisely depicts him as both. When Salvador was a young boy in Spain, his father was frustrated with his dreamy son, but "Salvador couldn't help being himself," a refrain that soon becomes familiar. He attends art school, goes to Paris and joins up with the surrealists, finds love, and paints the work that makes him immortal, The Persistence of Memory. Celebrity meant that "soon Salvador's antics drew more attention than his art," but Dalí and his fans weren't bothered by the art establishment's disapproval; he may have spent a lot more time "appearing on television and having parties," but the man who regularly dined in restaurants with his pet ocelot left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape. The text is deftly compact in condensing a wild life into a brief narrative, and Guglielmo appropriately takes Dalí's side on the value of his life choices. Helquist's familiar style of measured exuberance suits its subject well, calmly throwing in the odd eccentricity unmentioned in the text (like Dalí's Parisian stroll with a leashed anteater) and tastefully depicting without mimicking relevant artworks. An artist who focused on garnering attention and exploring absurdity has innate kid appeal; audiences will definitely be induced to seek out Dali's work and online footprint and consider the throughline to more recent figures such as Lady Gaga. End matter includes a further note about Dalí, a selected bibliography, a note about quotes, and a key to the featured works of art.