Abstract
The purpose of this article is to illustrate a little known episode of Salvador Dalí’s initial intervention in the surrealist movement: his relationship with Catalan writer Josep Vicenç Foix. To what extent writers such as Foix adapted Surrealism in his own writing and what kind of exchanges he had with Paris? Was Foix a predecessor of Dalí’s surrealist writing? As early as 1918, J.V. Foix made an impact in Catalan literary circles and one of the first imitators of Apollinaire (and maybe Breton). After 1926 Foix he developed a close relationship with Dalí and helped him with the publication of his firsts texts in Catalan in the journal L’Amic de les Arts. Close reading of surrealist texts by Foix and Dalí provide an illustration of the limitations of Catalan Surrealism and help explain why Dalí decided to go to Paris (where Foix never went) becoming a crucial voice in the French surrealist group. Also it demonstrates how Dalí used many sources to build his artistic and literary identity, and what impact had his Barcelona connections before becoming a member of the surrealist group. Foix and Dalí accomplished a dynamic process capable of transforming and reconfiguring the meaning and function of surrealist aesthetics in Catalonia in a complex network and context.
Recommended Citation
Bou, Enric. "From Foix to Dalí: Versions of Catalan Surrealism between Barcelona and Paris." Artl@s Bulletin 6, no. 2 (2017): Article 3.
