For the last two months, we have presented incidents throughout the life of Salvador Dalí. Via those events, we have seen Dalí exemplify his forte of disobedience and his issues with authority. However, we wondered, where did the influence for this type of behavior originate from? Consequently, by analyzing Dalí’s relationship with his family, we can perhaps identify the catalyst and the raison d'être for his demeanor.  First, we examine Dalí’s connection with his mother.

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Salvador Dali was an exhibitionist who loved to embellish his stories. When it comes to his mother, there were several conflicting theories about their relationship. Did she sexually abuse him when he was young? Or as a known exhibitionist, was it merely another one of his ploys to get everyone’s attention?

Felipa Domenech Ferres, Dali’s mother, met his father, Salvador Dali Cusi, when she was 26 years old. She was described as a demure and a pretty Barcelona girl. As a first child in the family, she had worked at her mother’s handicraft shop since she was very young. Felipa was always skilled with her fingers and drew very well. The two met in Chabrils, a village north of the city, while Salvador was on holiday at the summer villa. They were married shortly after they met, on Dec. 29, 1900, in Barcelona. Felipa settled into their new home in Figueres after their honeymoon, already pregnant with their first son, Salvador Dali.

Unfortunately, the first Salvador Dali didn’t live for very long. He died of gastroenteritis when he was barely 2 years old. Even at such a young age, his genius was already apparent, and his death traumatized Felipa, who was a devout Catholic. 

Felipa was pregnant with the second Salvador Dali, the famous Surrealist painter, soon after the death of their first son. Dali often mentioned how he was a reincarnation of his brother, with a striking physical resemblance and the same cranial structure.

Due to the death of her first son, Dali’s mother, aunt, grandmother and his maid Lucia, smothered Dali with affection and let him do anything he wanted. As a result, he threw tantrums, coughing fits and was often a troublemaker at school. The only person who refused to indulge all his whims was his father, whom he always had a tumultuous relationship with, for the rest of their lives.

Dali’s mother died in 1921, when he was 17 years old. It also was the year he moved to the student residency at the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts. Later in his life he wrote, “I had to achieve fame to avenge myself for the insult which my beloved mother’s death represented to me.”

Dali never had painted his mother, and this fact has raised many speculations. He also compared her to a praying mantis, which will eat up its partner’s head after intercourse. Carlos Roja, in his book The Art of Spitting on Your Mother’s Portrait, mentioned that Dali’s psychological impotence throughout his life might be a result of his mother’s sexual abuse when he was young. He said that Dali had recurring nightmares of his mother performing sexual acts on him. Dali was treated as an outcast in his family after they heard about this statement. Does this mean he was telling the truth because of what he was willing to risk to tell this story?

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Continuing reading the rest of the series:

Father Figure

Sister Act

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