Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) was the most remarkable and famous of the surrealists. He lived at the edge of the law and questioned the norms of society, the ability of the Spanish artist to always be the center of attention brought him fame and made him get to know Walt Disney, Fererico García Lorca, André Bretón, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. In his own words:

”The thought that it was impossible that I received recognition was terrible”.

Themes

The main themes in the art of Dalí are the dream, sexuality, religion and metamorphosis. Also Dalís lover and later wife, Gala Éluard, is present in many of his paintings.

Childhood

Shortly before the birth of Dalí, his parents lost an older son. It is said that Dalí got all the attention that the parents could not give the dead brother. At an early age, Dalí developed a need for recognition and attention and with time megalomania. However, the artist was able to use these as a creative force in his art. Dalí said in his autobiography:

”My ambitions have never stopped growing and the same can be said about by megalomania. I only wish to be Salvador Dalí – nothing else; but as I get closer to this goal, Salvador Dalí moves farther away.”

Paris and the meeting with Picasso

Dalí studied at the Art Academy of Madrid, where he learnt about the classic tradition and where he obtained an exquisite technique. During the 1920s he experimented with different styles from the most important artistic trends, among those: cubism, futurism, impressionism, pointillism and neo-cubism.

In 1927 he traveled to, encouraged by his friend, the Catalan artist Joan Miró. Here he met Pablo Picasso. In his autobiography he relates that it was Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, a cubist painter from Granada, who presented him to Picasso. Dalí said to Picasso, that he had chosen to go seeing the Spanish painter before visiting the art museum Louvre - Picasso answered: “You did right.”