Surreal

The Extraordinary Life of Gala Dali

By: Michele Gerber Klein

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Hardcover | 3 April 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
336 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
24.1 x 16.5 x 3.3

Hardcover

RRP $69.99

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'In Michele 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

'Michele 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 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.

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, 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.

'Michele 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, Michele 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

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