Salvador Dalí & Edward James Lobster Telephone 1938 © Salvador Dalí , Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, DACS, London, 2023

Biography

Born 1904
Died 1989
Nationality Spanish
Birth place Figueres
Death place Figueres

Dalí was born in Figueres, Spain. After being thrown out of art school in Madrid in 1923, he experimented with a range of styles. By 1927 he began to move away from Cubism towards Surrealism. He was a keen follower of developments in surrealist art and literature and met Miró, a fellow Catalan and Surrealist, in 1927. A talented self-publicist, Dalí cultivated his eccentric personality as carefully as his meticulous, academic technique, inspired by the Old Masters. In addition to being a painter, sculptor, graphic artist and designer, Dalí collaborated in the making of the first surrealist film, Un chien andalou in 1929.

Glossary terms

Glossary terms

Surrealism

A literary and artistic movement that sought to challenge conventions through the exploration of the subconscious mind, invoking the power of dreams and elements of chance. It is now regarded as one of the most radical movements of the twentieth century.