Salvador Dalí

Born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, Dalí received his formal education in fine arts in Madrid. Influenced by Impressionism and the Renaissance masters from a young age, he became increasingly attracted to Cubism and avant-garde movements. He moved closer to Surrealism in the late 1920s and joined the Surrealist group in 1929, soon becoming one of its leading exponents. 

His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931 and is one of the most famous Surrealist paintings. Dalí lived in France throughout the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) before leaving for the United States in 1940, where he achieved commercial success. He returned to Spain in 1948, where he announced his return to the Catholic faith and developed his "nuclear mysticism" style based on his interest in classicism, mysticism, and recent scientific developments.

Dalí's artistic repertoire included painting, graphic arts, film, sculpture, design, and photography, sometimes collaborating with other artists. He also wrote fiction, poetry, autobiography, essays, and criticism. Major themes in his work include dreams, the subconscious, sexuality, religion, science, and his closest personal relationships. To the dismay of those who held his work in high regard and to the irritation of his critics, his eccentric and ostentatious public behavior often drew more attention than his artwork. 

His public support for the Francoist regime, his commercial activities, and the quality and authenticity of some of his late works have also been controversial. His life and work influenced other Surrealists, pop art, and contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst. Two major museums are devoted to Salvador Dalí's work: the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Spain, and the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.