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Surreal
The Extraordinary Life of Gala Dali
Brief Description
In Michèle Gerber Klein's new biography, Surreal, Gala Dali gets her due... one thing is certain: Whatever else, she was a woman who knew her own worth NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Michèle Gerber Klein's biography of Gala Dali is proof she was far more than...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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See moreThe long-awaited, definitive biography of Gala Dalí, which unmasks this famous yet little-known queen of the twentieth-century art world.
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Description
In Michèle Gerber Klein's new biography, Surreal, Gala Dali gets her due... one thing is certain: Whatever else, she was a woman who knew her own worth NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Michèle Gerber Klein's biography of Gala Dali is proof she was far more than just a muse... the book is peppered with vivid vignettes and arresting images TELEGRAPH
A revealing biography of the incredibly influential but often overlooked Gala Dali TOWN & COUNTRY
Surreal tells the riveting story of Gala Dali (1894-1982) who broke away from 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.
Gala was a heroine whose originality captivated people wherever she went, and her life story has everything: glamour; drama; passion; ambition; money; art; defiance and daring. In this vivid, detailed rendering, Michèle 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.
Michèle Gerber Klein - at long last - gives Gala Dali the close-up she deserves... Pour a stiff Pernod or Absinthe, kick back, and enjoy this delightfully sparking read BRAD GOOCH, author of Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring
Gerber Klein's exquisitely portrayed and wickedly amusing account is a romp through the annals and escapades of an avant-garde movement that profoundly informs artistic discourse today ADAM D WEINBERG, Director Emeritus, Whitney Museum of American Art
Brilliant... Original, engaging, and fiercely intelligent, Gala Dali has at last inspired a biography that shares her own best qualities CAROLINE WEBER, author of Proust's Duchess and Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
Echoing her subject's vim, at a fast clip that never lags and often surprises, Michèle Gerber Klein shows how Gala Dali put the 'extra' in her extraordinary, century-defining life PRUDENCE PEIFFER, author of The Slip and Director of Content at MoMA, New York
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780349020013
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 02 April 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Virago Press Ltd
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 28.0mm
Width: 124.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 291g
Pages: 336
About the Author
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.
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Surreal
Using previously undiscovered material, Surreal tells the riveting story of Gala Dali (1894-1982), who broke away from 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...PaperbackSold Out
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