Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali was a prominent Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, on 11 May 1904. When he was five, Dalí was taken to his brother’s grave and was told that he was his brother’s reincarnation.

At an early age, Salvador Dali’s parents encouraged him to produce highly sophisticated drawings and was sent to drawing school in Figueres, Spain, in 1916. In 1922, Dalí moved to Madrid and studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando where he already drew attention as an eccentric and dandy. He was influenced by several different artistic styles, including Metaphysics and Cubism. Dalí was expelled from the Academy in 1926, shortly before his final exams when he was accused of starting an unrest.

Later, Dali visited Paris where he met Pablo Picasso whom he revered. Picasso had already heard favorable reports about Dalí from Joan Miró, a fellow Catalan who introduced him to many Surrealist friends. As he developed his own style over the next few years, Dalí made a number of works heavily influenced by Picasso and Miró.