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Revision as of 12:49, 8 October 2002 by Perique des Palottes (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí (born May 11, 1904, in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, died January 23, 1989) was an important surrealist painter.
His work is noted for their striking combination of bizarre dreamlike images with excellent draftmanship influenced by the Rennesance masters. Dalí became as famous for his eccentric theatrical manner as his artwork, especially in his later years.
He attended Municipal Drawing School, where he first received formal art training. In 1916 Dalí discovered modern painting on a summer vacation with the Pichot family. The next year Dalí's father organized an exhibition of his charcoal drawings in their family home. He had his first public exhibition at the Municipal Theater in Figueres in 1919.
He moved to Madrid, where he studied at the Academy of Arts (Academia de San Fernando) from which he was expelled in 1926 because of conflicts with his teachers. (He stated that the faculty was not competent enough to examine him.)
1929 was an important year for Dalí. He collaborated with Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel on the short film Un Chien Andalou; met his muse and future wife, Gala (then married to the poet Paul Éluard); had his first professional exhibition; and joined the Surrealist group in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris.
In 1931, Dalí painted The Persistence of Memory.
In 1936, he painted Autumn Cannibalism and Soft Construction with Beans Premonition of Civil War.
In 1939, he was expelled from the Surrealist group for political reasons.
In 1940, Dalí and Gala moved to America, where they lived for eight years.
In 1945, Dalí collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on a dream sequence to the film Spellbound, to mutual dissatisfaction.
In 1949, he painted Leda Atomica and The Madonna of Port Lligat, and returned to Europe.
In 1951, he painted Christ of St. John of the Cross and Exploding Rephaelesque Head.
In 1958, Dalí and Gala married.
In 1959, Dalí painted The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
In 1976, he painted Gala Contemplating the Sea.
In 1983, he completed his final painting, The Swallow's Tail.
The two largest collections of Dalí's work are the Salvador Dalí museum in St. Petersburg, Florida and the Museo Gala Salvador Dalí in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain.