The Dalí Legacy: How an Eccentric Genius Changed the Art World and Created a Lasting Legacy

Christopher Heath Brown · Jean-Pierre Isbouts

Jan 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Charlie Thurston

About this audiobook

In turns beloved and reviled, twentieth century art, painter, filmmaker, and designer Salvador Dali set Europe and the United States ablaze with his uncompromising genius, sexual sadism, and flirtations with megalomania. His shocking behavior and work frequently alienated critics; his views were so outrageous, even prominent Surrealists tried to ostracize him. Still, every morning he experienced "an exquisite joy-the joy of being Salvador Dali," and, through a remarkable talent that invited bewilderment, anger, and adoration, rose to unprecedented levels of fame-forever shifting the landscape of the art world and the nature of celebrity itself. In this stunning volume, noted art historians Jean-Pierre Isbouts and Christopher Heath Brown discuss the historical, social, and political conditions that shaped Dali's work, identify the impact of Modern as well as Old Master art, and present an unflinching view of the master's personal relationships and motivations. With their deeply compelling narrative, Isbouts and Brown uncover how Dali's visual wit and enduring cult of personality still impacts fashion, literature, and art, from Andy Warhol to Lady Gaga, and seeks to answer why, in an age of shock and awe, Dali's art still manages to distress, perplex, and entertain.

About the author

Christopher Heath Brown is a practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeon, as well as an art collector and the director of Brown Discoveries, a research institute focused on Renaissance, Surrealist, and Contemporary art. He is the coauthor, with Jean-Pierre Isbouts, of The da Vinci Legacy.

Jean-Pierre Isbouts is an art historian and a doctoral professor at Fielding Graduate University. He is the author of nine books, including The Biblical World, In the Footsteps of Jesus, and The Story of Christianity. He is the coauthor, with Christopher Heath Brown, of The da Vinci Legacy.

Charlie Thurston has appeared on stages across the country, including Trinity Repertory Company, Arden Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Intiman Theater, Chautauqua Theater Company, and Riverside Theatre. Charlie holds an MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep.