Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech was born on 11 May 1904 in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He would become one of the most recognisable and eccentric artists of the 20th century, renowned for his surrealist works that defied convention and explored the depths of the unconscious mind. His mastery of technique, combined with his flamboyant personality and unrelenting ambition, cemented his place in art history as a visionary who blurred the boundaries between reality and dream.







From an early age, Dalí exhibited an extraordinary talent for drawing and painting. His father, a strict notary, had high expectations for his son, while his mother was more nurturing, encouraging his artistic pursuits. He received formal art training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, where he quickly gained attention for both his technical prowess and his unconventional behaviour. His time in Madrid introduced him to the avant-garde movements that were emerging in Europe, including Cubism and Dadaism, which would later influence his unique style.







Dalí’s early works displayed his admiration for the Old Masters, particularly painters such as Velázquez and Vermeer, whose precision and attention to detail he sought to emulate. However, his art soon took a dramatic turn when he encountered the surrealist movement in Paris in the late 1920s. Led by André Breton, the surrealists sought to unlock the power of the subconscious through dream imagery, automatic drawing, and an embrace of the irrational. Dalí, fascinated by the ideas of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, embraced surrealism wholeheartedly and developed his own technique, which he called the “paranoiac-critical method.” This approach allowed him to cultivate hallucinatory visions that he translated onto canvas with meticulous realism.







Throughout the 1930s, Dalí produced some of his most famous works, including “The Persistence of Memory” (1931), which featured the now-iconic melting clocks draped over a barren landscape. This painting captured the dreamlike quality that defined his work and became one of the most recognisable images in modern art. His ability to create seemingly irrational yet highly detailed scenes set him apart from other surrealists, and he quickly gained international fame.







Despite his success, Dalí’s relationship with the surrealist movement became increasingly strained. His apolitical stance and admiration for capitalism clashed with the leftist ideologies of many of his contemporaries, leading to his eventual expulsion from the surrealist group in 1939. Unbothered by this, he declared, “I am surrealism,” reinforcing his belief in his own artistic autonomy. He continued to experiment with different styles and media, including sculpture, photography, film, and even fashion design.







His personal life was just as unconventional as his art. In 1929, he met Gala Éluard, a Russian-born woman who was married to the poet Paul Éluard at the time. Despite the complexities of their relationship, she became his muse, business manager, and lifelong partner. Their union was often surrounded by controversy, but Gala played an instrumental role in shaping Dalí’s career, handling financial affairs and securing commissions that allowed him to thrive.







During the Second World War, Dalí and Gala fled Europe for the United States, where he enjoyed further success. He designed theatrical sets, collaborated with filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Walt Disney, and engaged in commercial ventures that included advertising and jewellery design. His embrace of mass media and self-promotion led some critics to dismiss him as a sell-out, but he remained steadfast in his belief that art an...