Salvador Dali

Salvador Dalí was born in 1904 in Figueres, Spain.

Dalí was a leading proponent of Surrealism; the 20th century avant-garde movement that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious through strange, dream-like imagery, Dali  once said: "Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision".

Dalí is speifically credited with the innovation of "paranoia-criticism," a philosophy of art making that he defined as "irrational understanding based on the interpretive-critical association of delirious phenomena".

In addition to painting meticulous compositions such as; The Accommodations of Desire (1929) and the melting clocks in his famed The Persistence of Memory (1931), Dalí was a prolific writer and early filmmaker. He cultivated an eccentric public persona with his flamboyant moustache, pet ocelot, outlandish behaviour, and quips; "Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure...That of being Salvador Dali" he once said.

In 1965, he turned his hand to sculpture, contenting himself with repeating themes from his paintings into 3D format: a Venus equipped with cupboard drawers, elephants with spiders' legs, soft watches, etc., all worked into bronze or crystal.

Dalí passed away in January 1989 at the age of 84.