Salvador Dalí is one of the greatest Spanish painters of all time and one of the most important figures in the history of the modern art movement.
Born in Figueras, Spain in 1904, Dalí began to paint at the age of ten. He attended a prominent art academy in Madrid and in his earliest years as an artist he exhibited his work widely, lectured, and wrote. In 1929 Dalí joined the Surrealist movement, which consisted of a group of writers and artists led by André Breton. During this time, Dalí met and married his wife and muse Gala and produced what would become one of the most famous surrealist paintings of all time, The Persistence of Memory (featuring one of his most famous motifs, the melting clock).
It was, however, not only Dalí’s extraordinary talent that made him the face of the surrealist movement – his flamboyant nature meant that he was never far from controversy and scandal. Like Picasso, Matisse, Miró and Chagall, Dalí’s surrealist attitude to life placed him at the pinnacle of modern art history. Over his long career, Dalí produced a remarkable body of artwork including paintings, sculptures and photographs that continue to be exhibited and sold all over the world.
In 1974, the Dalí Theatre and Museum (designed by Dalí, and on of the galleries holding the largest number of his works) was founded in his hometown of Figueres and continues to attract thousands of visitors every year.
