Salvador Dali

Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) was an outstanding figure of the surrealist group of Andre Breton. He travelled and worked in Spain, France and the United States. He was one of the most brilliantly provocative artists of the twentieth century, not only in his public life, but also in his paintings and in the field of film, sculpture, photography and printmaking.

Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.

Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully -sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.