New book explores relationship between Dali & Dr. Edmund Klein

PanARMENIAN.Net - A new book that explores the unique friendship between Salvador Dali, the kingpin of surrealism; and Dr. Edmund Klein – credited with a cure for skin cancer – has been published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform and is available at Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com, Art Daily reports.

Titled “Dali & His Doctor: The Surreal Friendship Between Salvador Dali and Dr. Edmund Klein,” the book presents a biographical sketch of dermatologist Dr. Klein’s award-winning cancer research, while also chronicling the creation, cataloging, exhibition and sale of a unique collection of original drawings Dali did for Dr. Klein in lieu of payment for the physician’s private treatment of the artist.

Author Paul Chimera, who met Dali and is the former publicity director of the original Dali Museum of Beachwood, Ohio, explained that in 1972 Dali’s secretary sought out the best skin cancer expert at the time to consult with the celebrated Spanish painter. “That search ended on the doorstep of Dr. Klein of Williamsville, New York (a suburb of Buffalo). Dr. Klein won the prestigious Albert Lasker Award for clinical research in the area of skin cancer. Dali and his manager knew they found the right man,” Chimera said.

Over the course of eight-plus years, Chimera explained, Dali and Dr. Klein met privately in New York, Spain, and France. During their sessions, Dali would bring a Dali book, or sketchpad, and execute drawings personally inscribed to Klein, whom he called his “guardian angel” – a theme that punctuated most of the works.

“Dali & His Doctor” includes a transcribed memoir of Dr. Klein, dictated to his wife shortly before his death in 1999, in which he describes in colorful detail how he narrowly escaped the Anschluss in Austria. The book details Klein’s medical background and achievements, including national media stories that featured his expert advice and commentary.

“Dali & His Doctor” also traces the creation of the unique collection of Dali dedicatory drawings from their cataloging, exhibition at the State University of New York at Buffalo, attainment of international headlines, and eventual sale.