In August 1929, Dali met the love of his life: Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, better known as Gala. Unfortunately, Gala was already married to the French surrealist poet Paul Eluard. Dali wasn’t discouraged: “She was destined to be my Gradiva, the one who moves forward, my victory, my wife.” Since Gala and Eluard had what we might now term an “open marriage”—they had previously spent three years in a menage a trois with the artist Max Ernst—there was little to impede her relationship with Dali. After divorcing Eluard (although they apparently continued a sexual relationship), Gala married Dali in 1934. While it wasn’t exactly a traditional marriage—both continued to see other people—the relationship was apparently a happy one. Gala became Dali’s muse and business manager, her financial shrewdness supporting his extravagant lifestyle. The partnership was so important that Dali would frequently sign art with both of their names.
In 1968, Dali bought Gala a castle in Spain, which she accepted on the condition that he could only visit her there after obtaining her permission in writing.