Salvador Dali (1904-89) was one of the most controversial and paradoxical artists of the twentieth century. A painter of considerable virtuosity, he used a traditional illusionistic style to create disturbing images filled with references to violence, death, cannibalism and bizarre sexual practices, from the extraordinary limp watches in The Persistence of Memory to the gruesome monster in Soft Construction with Boiled Beans: Premonition of Civil War and the fetishistic lobster in the famous Lobster Telephone.

Born in Figueras, Spain, Dali was initially influenced by Impressionism and Cubism, but subsquently became involved with the Surrealists, the most revolutionary artists of the time. They regarded his paintings as revealing the normally hidden world of the unconscious. Indeed the Surrealists' leader, Andre Breton, remarked: "It is perhaps with Dali that for the first time the windows of the mind are opened fully wide". However, Breton later expelled him from the grou

About the Author

Christopher Masters is an art historian with a special interest in the art of the early twentieth century.

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Book Information
ISBN 9780714833385
Author Christopher Masters
Format Paperback
Page Count 128
Imprint Phaidon Press Ltd
Publisher Phaidon Press Ltd
Weight(grams) 518g
Dimensions(mm) 305mm * 225mm * 8mm