The painting was written when Dali was only seventeen years old, although he tried to make himself older and give his appearance a character that was not characteristic of him.
1921 was the year when his mother died, and he himself left the house for the first time to become a student of the San Fernando Academy in Madrid. This tense, self-defeating self-portrait has a claim to invincible masculinity, which was probably intended to hide Dali’s extreme shyness; The same goal was served by the more well-known face of a mustachioed prankster and dandy.
The technique of painting here is quite literate, but imitative, – a smear and a palette give out the influence of impressionism, pointillism and other ‘modern’ trends that Dali will soon leave for the sake of sharpened ‘academic’ manner. In the background – the sea, the Costa Brava and the small fishing village of Kadak, which will play such an important role in life, and in the art of Dali.
Portrait of my father by Salvador Dali 
Portrait of my deceased brother by Salvador Dali 
Portrait of my father with a pipe by Salvador Dali 
Portrait of Anna Maria by Salvador Dali 
Self-portrait with “Yumanite” by Salvador Dali 
Portrait of Picasso by Salvador Dali 
Cubic Self-Portrait by Salvador Dali 
Pieta (Pieta) by Salvador Dali