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Salvador Dali
220px-Salvador Dali NYWTS

Birthdate

May 11, 1904

Birthplace

Figueres, Spain

Death date

January 23, 1989

Movement

Surrealism, Cubism

Salvador Dali was a Spanish artist. He worked in many mediums, from painting, to sculpture, to film. He was also well-known for his eclectic and gaudy style of dressing as well as his "attention-grabbing antics", which often enraged his critics.

Early Career[]

Early on in Madrid, Dali became friends with other eccentric artists and poets, specifically getting close to the homosexual Frederico Garcia Lorca (Dali rejected his sexual advances, but accepted him as a friend). He was well-know in Madrid for his eccentric ways, but he eventually gained some fame for his work with cubism and his early paintings. This made him stand out, as there were no Cubist artists at the time (1924) in Spain.

Career[]

Later on, when Dali moved to Paris, he became friends with Pablo Picasso, famous Spanish Cubist. During the 20s, he worked closely with Picasso and was greatly inspired by him. This was also the time period when he grew his flamboyant mustache which became his trademark for the rest of his life. In 1929 he created the short film Un Chien Andalou with surrealist film director Luis Bunuel. The same year, he met his wife, Gala, who would serve as his muse. During this time period, his father greatly disapproved of his surrealist work, given that it was sometimes very provocative and offensive to religious people.

In 1931, Dali created The Persistence of Memory, the work he is best-known for. This painting consists of melting pocketwatches draped over a landscape.

Later Years[]

In his later years, Dali continued to paint, but was also well-known for his antics which he would take part in with his wife, Gala. On one occasion, they showed up to a party dressed as the Lindburgh baby and the kidnapper, which enraged the other guests. He died in 1989 in Figueres, Spain. He left behind him a great legacy, and later artists including Andy Warhol credit him with inspiring the Pop art movement.

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