Dali & I

The Surreal Story

By: Stan Lauryssens

Narrated by: William Dufris

Art dealer Stan Lauryssens made millions in modern art, but he sold only one name: Salvador Dalí. The surrealist painter's work was a hot commodity for the newly rich, investors, and businessmen looking to launder their black-market cash. Lauryssens didn't mind looking the other way; he just hoped the buyers would look the other way as well.

The artworks he sold came from some very shady sources. And he soon discovered that the shadiest source of all was Dalí himself. The more successful Lauryssens became, the closer he got to Dalí's inner circle, until he found himself living next door to the aging artist.

There, while Lauryssens hid from Interpol's detectives, he learned more about Dalí's secret history, the studio of artists who produced his work, and the money-making machine that kept Dalí's extravagant lifestyle afloat long after his creativity began to flounder.

Dalí & I offers a behind-the-scenes view of the commerce and conspiracy that can go hand-in-hand in the art world, written by a man who has been to the top only to discover it was no different than the bottom.

©2008 Stan Lauryssens (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Crass, callous, sordid, and cynical - thus, utterly true to the spirit of Dali and a certain bestseller." ( Kirkus)

Pretty Awsome

its amazing to learn that anything dali produced from early 1970's on were not done by him at all but actually fully designed and excicuted by people he hired. He would then sign them and sell them as origionals. This includes most all of his religious art work. This means that a huge portion of the work that is constantly displayed in the Dali museum in St Petersburg Florida is a fake...or, the only thing that dali had anything to do with the painting was his signature. Apparently a huge portion of the work was done in Spain by a few artists he hired while he would be back in New York with gala having his famous "sex parties". He would not even see the final paintings untill it they were completed and shipped to him. He would then sign them and give then a crazy name and completely postrationalize the meaning of the painting. It was also astonishing to hear that almost all the lithographs in circulation today, that are not in major museums, are complete fakes.

doesn't seems like a documentary book

If you could sum up Dali & I in three words, what would they be?

Fun read, but probably not true.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The author writes too much about Dali's sex life. That info has no value for me and was wasting of my time.

Any additional comments?

It's not clear if the claim that Dali only signed his work but didn't paint it is based on true research.