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Salvador Dalí at art school: A wayward and insolent student expelled for life

A century has passed since the day that forever changed the life of Salvador Dalí: his second dismissal, this one permanent, from the Special School of Drawing, Sculpture and Printmaking at Madrid’s prestigious San Fernando Fine Art Royal Academy. In such a rigid, rule‑bound environment, Dalí felt out of place — and perhaps for that reason, this academic period has been overshadowed in scholarly writing. What dominates the narrative of those years in Madrid — which he described as the happiest of his life— are his escapades and artistic exchanges with Federico García Lorca, Maruja Mallo, and Luis Buñuel, his companions at the Residencia de Estudiantes, a pioneering cultural and academic residence, and a circle of mutual inspiration.

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Ana Rocasolano, director of the Complutense University’s general archive holds up several of the Dalí documents in the law department.From left, the UCM fine arts librarians Javier Pérez Iglesias and Laura Bomati and Dean Raquel Monje.

Design:

Ruth Benito

Development:

Fernando Anido

Graphic design:

Inés Arcones

Coordination:

Brenda Valverde Rubio

Featured image:

Salvador Dalí and his classmates at the Special School of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving (Academy of San Fernando). 1922–1923. GALA-SALVADOR DALÍ FOUNDATION

© Museo Nacional del Prado

Several artists, including Salvador Dalí and Maruja Mallo, during a visit to the Prado Museum with King Alfonso XIII.

© Archivo Residencia de Estudiantes

From left to right, Salvador Dalí, José Moreno Villa, Luis Buñuel, Federico García Lorca, and José Antonio Rubio Sacristán in La Bombilla Park (Madrid) in May 1926.

© ARCHIVIO GBB / Alamy Stock Photo (Alamy Stock Photo)

Portrait of Salvador Dalí, dated to the 1920s.

© FUNDACIÓN GALA - SALVADOR DALÍ

Salvador Dalí with his classmates at the Special School of Painting, Sculpture, and Printmaking during the 1922–1923 academic year.

© Juan Vicens (Archivo Residencia de Estudiantes)

From left to right: José Bello, José Moreno Villa, Luis Buñuel, José María Hinojosa (seated), María Luisa González, and Salvador Dalí at a meeting of the Order of Toledo at the Venta de Aires (Toledo) in 1924.
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