Michèle Gerber Klein’s SURREAL: The Extraordinary Life of Gala Dalí is a much-needed biography of one of the 20th century’s most polarizing muses. Gala was far more than Salvador Dalí’s wife—she was the architect of his persona, the manager of his empire, and, in many ways, the reason his fame endured. Klein’s research is extensive, her prose engaging, and the book offers a vivid sense of Gala’s early life, her marriage to poet Paul Éluard, and her transformation into a force behind the Surrealist movement.

But for all its strengths, the biography is notably cautious in areas where readers might expect deeper insight. Gala’s estrangement from her daughter is presented with minimal reflection, and the infamous financial scandals later in her life—including the sale of thousands of forged Dalí prints—are handled with a tone that often seems too generous. Most surprising, perhaps, is the near-total absence of any discussion of Gala and Dalí’s unconventional sexual dynamic, which is both well-documented and central to understanding their partnership. These omissions leave the narrative feeling incomplete, particularly for readers already familiar with the broader lore surrounding the Dalís.

Still, SURREAL is a valuable and compelling work that restores Gala’s presence to a history that too often reduced her to a footnote. For those new to her story, it’s an excellent starting point. For others, it’s a polished but partial portrait—one that tells us much, but not quite everything.

Having been born in the 50's in the midwest, I grew up with an understanding that there was a surrealist art form that people found both exciting and scandalous, at times. It was fascinating to touch this world by reading insights and adventures involving the names I had heard or read of. Many of the artists and peripheral personalities I looked up online as I read the book to see images of the paintings or learn more about the people who were a part of Gala's life, or to see images of her homes that were so well described. If you are a fan of or a student of the surrealist movement, you will be intrigued by this book.

I found that I was continually looking for Gala, and wanting more of her story, thoughts and emotional connection. Even though this is the story of her life, she remains a mystery from the beginning to the end. She obviously had the ability to identify talent and an insatiable need to surround herself with the most prestigious and influential people in surrealist and performance art circles. But who was Gala? She was obviously the business side of the Dali promotion. She was strong and protective of financial transactions, but was she ever cared for herself in her emotional transactions? How did she feel about long separations from her daughter? Was she appreciated or feared? Did she take care of her husbands and lovers to stand for herself, or to nurture the men around her - and did she lose herself as she cared for them? It seems there are so many aspects of her that even within this well written and well researched book she would not allow us to see.

Biography of a Designer, and Possible Ghost-Artist Behind Surrealism
Michele Gerber Klein, Surreal: The Extraordinary Life of Gala Dali (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, April 1, 2025). Hardcover: $25.60, 6X9”. 336pp. ISBN: 979-0-06-322057-7.
*****
“…The long-awaited, definitive biography of Gala Dalí, unmasks this famous yet little-known queen of the twentieth-century art world, who graced the canvases, inspired the poetry, and influenced the careers of her illustrious lovers and husbands with tenderness, courage, and agency. Using previously undiscovered material… tells the riveting story of Gala Dalí, (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 Éluard and Max Ernst. By the time she met the budding artist Salvador Dalí 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. She was the survivor of two world wars, the Russian revolution and the Spanish Civil War, and lived between France, Spain and the U.S. Gala was a heroine whose originality captivated people wherever she went, and her life story has everything: size; glamour; drama; true love, twisted love; ambition; money; art; defiance; daring and sweeping social unrest.”
As I glanced this blurb in the catalog, I was split between curiosity regarding the biography of one of my favorite painters (Dali), and why a wife or lover of this and other artists was relevant. But after reviewing the abstract-manifesto in this set of reviews, I think I understand that Gala was the marketer, or the seller who popularized the surrealist movement, and made it into the canonical bestseller it still is. Though the prologue adds that Gala was credited as a co-designer with Dali of projects such as the Dream of Venus pavilion for the 1939 World’s Fair” in NY. This suggested Gala might have been a ghost-painter behind the surrealist movement. So, I searched for “design” across this book. Gala “designed… fabrics for dresses”, a wedding dress for herself in 1917, sewed “her own clothes”, the cover and interior of a poetry collection or Eluard’s Defense de Savoir (Forbidden to Know, 1928), the clothing and speech Dali gave in NY that strengthened his connection to Freud and elevated Dali, jewelry (with Dali) to be showcased alongside new art at the Julien Levy’s gallery, an “opulent catalog” as “a mini-advertisement for Salvador’s upcoming autobiography, The Secret Life”, and then in the mid-1930s a broad array of things with Dali: “clothing, furniture, accessories, and decorative objects.” Though Gala’s primary interest throughout was on selling this art, she negotiated enormous sums for the reuse of Dali’s art in an ad, book illustrations, and a reproduction of a painting. These deals and the product designs etc. Gala “encouraged Salvador” to “design”, or perhaps designed herself is what pushed Dali into the canon of popular knowledge.
Gala was credited as a co-author on Dali’s Paranoiac-Critical Method (1931), “which expands Andre Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto, and was famous for stating that illusion is real.” Before this work was written, Gala and Dali attended the “inauguration of the Bureau des Rocherches Surrealistes” at the “15 rue de Grenelle” town house where it was then written. “Unlike Impressionism or Cubism, which are recognized by their painterly technique, Surrealism did not endorse any one style”, or genre, stretching between literature, art, music, and other fields. The Surrealist Manifesto “advocated” for “fantasy and intuition. It denounced logic, capitalism… colonialism” and “organized religion”. Breton argued that for “civilization and progress” humanity had banished “from the mind” that is “superstition or fancy. Any form of search for the truth which does not conform to the traditions of our civilization has been forbidden.” He insists now is the time for “creativity and inspiration” to reemerge. The search for “untruths” is hardly a glorious enterprise worthy of a special manifesto… Breton argued for trusting the “omnipotence of dreams”, and “automatic writing” as an authentic unedited “expression”. Breton wrote a famous book called Nadja that was interpreted as a fictional version of Gala, and this reference helped define Gala “in intellectual circles as ‘the mother of Surrealism.’” Breton’s Second Surrealist Manifesto added that a “special function of Surrealism is to examine the notions of reality and unreality, reason and irrationality”. But in this pursuit, it is materialistic, whereas art should strive to provoke in viewers a total “crisis of consciousness”. While they declared themselves to be antimaterial, they were advertising the members of the Surrealist movement in publications such as the Surrealism in the Service of the Revolution journal.
While I learned I find much of Surrealism to be critically nonsensical, and profit-driven, this was a great introduction to the origins of this genre. It helped me fill in a section on Surrealism in my study. It should similarly help all researchers of Surrealism. There are many sections that are written for amusement, and those who want to be entertained by the adventures of socialites will also find this content here. There is also much about the business of selling art, as opposed to merely making art-for-art’s-sake. A close reading should uncover many more useful lessons for artists and researchers. So, any library, and some private collections (especially of ambitious artists) can benefit from including this book.
Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Spring 2025 issue: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-spring-2025

This book completely redefined my perception of Gala Dalí. She wasn’t just a muse or a footnote in the history of surrealism—she was a force. The layers of her life, from her resilience to her undeniable influence over some of the biggest names in the art world, were fascinating to unravel. I loved how this biography didn’t shy away from the complexities of her character—her ambition, her contradictions, and the way she navigated power in a male-dominated world. It’s refreshing to see her finally getting the recognition she deserves, and I walked away with a newfound appreciation for her role in shaping surrealism.