On Monday, Victor elaborately narrated the fateful events leading up to Federico Garcia Lorca's execution. Now, we condense the details behind his death along with new information regarding the grave in which Lorca is presumed to have been buried in.

- - -

The pine-covered hills of southern Spain near Viznar are dotted with lonely piles of rocks and solitary memorial plaques. All have been left by loved ones to honor some of the more than 3,000 people that were murdered by Francisco Franco's Black Squadrons and dumped in unmarked mass graves near the small village. Over the years, tourists and relatives alike have made their way to a gnarled olive tree in the area. It is here they believe one of Spain's greatest poets was beaten, shot and buried on Aug. 19, 1936. It is here that the remains of Federico García Lorca and three others may lie.

More than 70 years later, the speculation about what happened that day continues, the motives behind the murder is still in question, and the effort to identify and rebury the remains of  Lorca and thousands of others continues. 

Lorca was just 38 during that chaotic summer of 1936. Despite the danger, he left Madrid and returned to Granada and his family home in the middle of fascist control. It was a decision that put him on a path toward his death. After his socialist brother-in-law was arrested, he stayed for some time with fellow poet Luis Rosales who hid him from the authorities. On Aug. 16 of that year, however, back in his family's summer home, he was arrested and taken to jail as a dangerous intellectual. Days later, Lorca, a schoolteacher, and two anarchist bullfighters, were dragged out of their cells, taken to a field and executed.

Closing off our Friendship Series, we take a closer look at the recondite affiliation and relationship between Luis Buñuel and Federico Garcia Lorca. Commencing prior to Salvador Dalí's arrival, Buñuel and Lorca's friendship soon grew rocky once Dalí and Lorca's affections towards one another became apparent.

- - -

The friendship between Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Buñuel likely began before Salvador Dalí joined them at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid in 1922, but it seems that Dalí both brought them closer together and, ultimately was the unwitting catalyst that drove them apart. Buñuel was the first to enter the Resi in 1917, and Lorca arrived three years later. Once Dalí had joined the fold, the three of them became inseparable, and along with Jose Pepín Bello, were the center of one of the liveliest groups of the Resi. In 1923 the four young men were among the co-founders of the ‘Noble Order of Toledo', a group whose members' primary aims were to get drunk and wander through the narrow streets of Toledo, to see what adventure they might stumble upon.

There were obstacles between Buñuel and Lorca, however, and their friendship was stormy. Apart from petty jealousy and competitiveness, Buñuel was homophobic. When a rumour was spread at the Resi that Lorca was homosexual, Buñuel was so shocked that he went to Lorca, demanding he tell him the truth, because he hated ‘pederasts'. Lorca got up and left the room, saying, "You and I have finished forever."

It wasn't too long ago that we criticized and assessed the bond between Gala and Salvador Dalí, probing into the justification behind the longevity of their marriage. Acting as stimuli for Salvador's artistic ingenuity, Gala was the subject in many of his paintings. We next examine and dissect the utilization of Salvador's recurring influence. To view the referenced paintings, click on the links.

- - -

Salvador Dalí stated many times that Gala was his muse. He used her likeness or referenced her in many of his paintings. André Thirion pays her the greatest homage, writing: "Dalí felt for Gala an exclusive and devouring passion," and "he painted then some pictures which are considered among the most moving and most beautiful tokens of love that man has ever given a woman." Portrait of Gala circa 1932-33 [ Pictured to the left ] shows the Gala that Dalí had first met in Cadaqués, Spain. How he perceived her and what was going on in their relationship could be interpreted in his paintings.

The earliest reference to Gala in his paintings might be in Illumined Desires (1929). The Venus rising from the water has the same long nose as Gala; however the breasts really are too large to be hers. As Dalí and Gala became acquainted, it is possible that he was merging her likeness with that of his mother. She was quickly becoming a very important female in Dalí's life.

Amid the span of our Promotional Blitz, our extensive array of articles has explicated the characters portrayed in Little Ashes in addition to complementary enlightenment, extending beyond the premise of film. Last week, we commenced our first installment of the series, expatiating on the friendship between Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. In this adjoining article, we traverse a supporting player in the film, Pepín Bello, and his associations with Buñuel, Dalí and Lorca.

[ Pictured to the right: Dalí, Lorca, and Bello, holding hands. ]

- - -

Buñuel, in his 1982 autobiography, Mi Último Suspiro (My Last Breath) wrote: "Neither painter nor poet, Pepí Bello was simply our inseparable friend." José Pepín Bello was one of the members of the Residencia de Estudiantes' Generation of 27.

Described as friendly, outgoing and gregarious, he was one of the first students to stay at the Residencia. He lived there from 1915 to 1924. Over the nine year period, he became close friends with Luis Buñuel, Federico Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dalí.

The premise of Little Ashes claims to personify the friendship of three extraordinary and gifted artists. Antecedently, we have evaluated the relationship between Federico Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dalí. Now, we embark on elucidating the supplementary fellowships between the characters depicted in the film. Firstly, we appraise the comradeship of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.

[ Pictured to the left: Dalí's Portrait of Luis Buñuel, 1924. Courtesy of the Salvador Dalí Art Gallery. For a larger view and analysis, click on the photo. ]

- - -

Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel's friendship started at the Residencia de Estudiates in 1922 where they were both attending the Academy of Fine Arts. One was an artist and the other a filmmaker, but Dalí also was fascinated with film. Later in their lives, they collaborated on Un Chien Andalou and L'Âge d'Or. They both also were involved in the Surrealist movement and their work revolved around it. Un Chien Andalou is considered one of, if not, the best Surrealist film of all time.

Both Dalí and Buñuel, along with Federico Garcia Lorca, became really close friends while they attended school in Madrid. Dalí painted a portrait of Buñuel in 1924. In 1927, they formed a new Spanish Surrealist avant-garde and became known as The Generation of 27, alongside other notable Spanish poets of the decade. This small group of painters, poets and playwrights began experimenting and collaborating with Surrealist techniques.

In interviews Little Ashes actress Marina Gatell has acknowledged that her character in the film, Magdalena, was based on a woman named Margarita Manso. Unfortunately, testimony and specifics regarding Manso remain cryptic and limited. Nevertheless, we exert to delineate this enigmatic woman.

[ Pictured to the left: A painting by Alfonso Ponce de León (who supposedly married Manso), called Mujeres sin Sombrero. ]

- - -

There were some very important women in both Salvador Dalí's and Federico Garcia Lorca's lives. One of these women, who they met while at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, was Margarita Manso.

Manso was born in Valladolid, Spain, in 1908 and later lived in Madrid where her mother was a dressmaker. At the age of 15, she enrolled at The Special School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving. She studied there from the fall of 1925 until spring of 1927, passing all her subjects. She probably first met Lorca in 1925, while she probably didn't meet Dalí until the spring of 1926. She was described as being very slim, almost boyish and very pretty.  And she was also very modern, liberated and according to Dalí, "fascinated by both him and Lorca."

It is clearly evident via countless anecdotes, that Luis Buñuel exhibited a homophobic disposition. Whilst manifesting his virile persona through athletics and his old fashioned ideals, we speculate if perhaps all of Buñuel's attempts at proving his heterosexuality were nothing but a smokescreen, intended to conceal his true nature. Nevertheless, it's something interesting to cogitate about.

- - -

Luis Buñuel Portolés was born in Calanda, Spain, on Feb. 22, 1900.  Although he mainly worked in France and Mexico, he is considered one of Spain's most prominent directors.  When he was a young boy, he received a strict Jesuit education at the Colegio di Salvador in Zaragoza. After he was expelled from the college, he moved to the University of Madrid, where he met and became close to Salvador Dalí and Federico Garcia Lorca.

According to A Companion to Luis Buñuel by Gwynne Edwards, Buñuel appeared to be strongly homophobic. When he was at the Residencia de Estudiantes, he often attacked homosexuals as they came out of the public bathroom. When there were rumours about Lorca being homosexual, Buñuel was reported to have bluntly asked him if he was queer. He also openly denied that his younger brother Alfonso was a homosexual. 

Via our last installment of The Stories of Salvador Dalí and our previous Dalí Family article, we have been talking about Dalí's kinship with his estranged father and the incidents that provoked such repudiation. As a conclusion to the Dalí family series, we evaluate the last remaining relationship left to analyze; the connection between brother and sister. What began as sisterly love soon turns sour after Gala enters the picture.

- - -

[ Pictured above: Salvador and Ana Maria, courtesy of the Salvador Dalí Gallery ]

- - -

Salvador Dalí's younger sister Ana had a profound effect on Dalí's life. Born Ana Maria Dalí, she was three years Dalí's junior, yet it was she who cared for her brother after their mother passed away when Dalí was just 16.

The two siblings were close, although there is some evidence that Dalí might have resented Ana for taking away some of the attention that had been devoted to him. Before Ana's birth, Dalí had been the only child, and he had been doted upon by a house full of women. There are many stories of Dalí and Ana playing along the beaches of Cadaqués, exploring the tide pools and village.