Surreal: The Extraordinary Life of Gala Dali

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Using previously undiscovered material, Surreal tells the riveting story of Gala Dali,(1894-1982) who broke away from the her cultured but penurious background in pre-Revolutionary Russia to live in Paris with both France's most famous poet, Paul Eluard, and artist Max Ernst. By the time she met the budding artist Salvador Dali in 1929, Gala was known as the Mother of Surrealism. She rapidly became his mentor and protector, marrying him in 1934 and subsequently engineering their vast fortune. At a time when artists were celebrities, Gala acted as the ambassador of the Surrealist movement, spreading its popularity across the globe. She was the survivor of two world wars, the Russian revolution and the Spanish Civil War, and lived between France, Spain and the U.S.

Gala was a heroine whose originality captivated people wherever she went, and her life story has everything : glamour; drama; true love, twisted love; ambition; money; art; defiance and daring,. In this vivid, detailed rendering, Michele Gerber Klein has brought Gala out of the shadows to reveal a charismatic figure who played a pivotal role in the art world, yet has never received the full recognition she deserves.

Author Bio

Michele Gerber Klein is an author and journalist, who writes frequently about art and fashion. Her first book, Charles James: Portrait of an Unreasonable Man, was named a Financial Times Best Book of 2018. A columnist for Mann Publications, she has contributed to numerous publications, including The Brooklyn Rail, Cottages and Gardens, and Quest, where her subjects have included Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Lacroix, Tina Barney, Maurizio Cattelan, and Diane Arbus. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she serves as the vice president of the Bertha and Isaac Liberman Foundation and is involved with many arts institutions including the Drawing Center, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum. She lives in New York City.