Salvador Dalí

Key facts

Lived

1904–1989, Spanish

Movement

• Surrealism

Works held in

30 museums^[4]

• Purist Still Life

  Dalí Theatre and Museum

  Teatre Principal, Spain

  283 works

  

  Museum detailsMap
• Still Life. Still Life. Watermelon

  Salvador Dalí Museum

  St. Petersburg, United States

  106 works

  

  Museum detailsMap
• Still Life

  Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

  Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain

  71 works

  

  Museum detailsMap
• Family Scene

  Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation

  Figueres, Spain

  19 works

  

  Museum details
• Vegetable Garden at Es Llaner-Petit

  Morohashi Museum of Modern Art

  Kitashiobara, Japan

  17 works

  

  Museum detailsMap
• Still Life with Aubergines

  Kunstmuseum Bern

  Kunstmuseum und Kunsthistorisches Seminar (building), Switzerland

  7 works

  

  Museum detailsMap

Plan your visit to see Salvador Dalí →

• How did salvador dalí die?+

  Salvador Dalí died in 1989 at the age of 85.
• What is Salvador Dalí's most famous work?+

  Salvador Dalí's most famous painting is likely *The Persistence of Memory*. The Spanish artist painted it in 1931 and it was first exhibited in Paris that June. Dalí himself described the painting's origins in his book *The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí*. He had been planning to go to the cinema with friends, but stayed home because of a headache. After eating some strong Camembert cheese, he began thinking about the philosophical implications of its "super-softness". He went to his studio to look at a painting he was working on: a view of Port Lligat with rocks in a melancholy twilight, and an olive tree. Suddenly, he "saw" the solution to the painting: soft watches, one hanging from the olive tree. He painted quickly, and when his wife Gala returned, the painting was complete. The painting shows Dalí's interest in juxtaposing "hard" and "soft" objects; the "floppy clocks" contrast with the hard rocks of his Catalan birthplace. The centre of the work contains a distorted "soft" self-portrait, with closed eyes to enhance the dreamlike atmosphere.
• What should I know about Salvador Dalí's prints?+

  Salvador Dalí produced prints throughout his career; these exist in a range of media. Original prints are produced by hand by the artist. The artwork is created directly on the plate, woodblock, stone, or screen. These include woodcuts, engravings, linocuts, mezzotints, etchings, lithographs and serigraphs. Dalí's prints conform to a set of conventions. These include a print number and an edition number, the title of the print, and the signature (or chop mark). These are usually written in pencil on the bottom margin. The edition is limited by the artist's decision, not technical limitations. Although printmaking is unregulated, claims are subject to the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, Section 2. This act requires commercial descriptions to be truthful. Other types of prints include offset reproductions (also known as posters) which are reproduced by photochemical means. Giclée prints are fine art prints made using colour-copier technology. Canvas transfers are also common; the image is transferred onto canvas to give the appearance of a painting.
• What style or movement did Salvador Dalí belong to?+

  Salvador Dalí is most associated with Surrealism. He was interested in classical art from a young age; he independently studied the techniques of artists such as Raphael, Bronzino, Vermeer and Velázquez, because his teachers focused on Impressionism and Fauvism. Dalí experimented with various styles and media, including painting, sculpture, film, graphic arts, photography and theatre. Inspired by Miró and Picasso, he developed a Surrealist style, joining the Surrealist group in 1929. Dalí's work is characterised by his imagination, attention to detail, illusionistic portrayals and realistic technique. He created macabre, fantastic and hallucinatory visions, which he called “hand-painted dream photographs”. Although expelled from the Surrealist movement in 1934, he continued to produce Surrealist paintings. During World War II, Dalí lived in the US, entering what he termed his “classic” phase; science and religion became recurring themes. He also produced objects, such as the Lobster Telephone (1936) and Mae West Lips Sofa, and made black-and-white films.
• What techniques or materials did Salvador Dalí use?+

  Salvador Dalí was interested in classical art techniques. Annoyed that his teachers concentrated on Impressionist and Fauvist styles, he independently studied Raphael, Bronzino, Vermeer and Velázquez. Dalí explored a wide range of media. These included painting, sculpture, film, graphic arts, photography and theatre work. Inspired by Miró and Picasso, he developed a Surrealist style, joining the Surrealist group in 1929. His imagination, attention to detail and photographically realistic technique resulted in lifelike, often macabre, visions that he called “hand-painted dream photographs”. Even after his expulsion from the Surrealist Movement in 1934, Dalí continued to produce Surrealist paintings. He also created objects, such as the Lobster Telephone (1936) and a Mae West lips sofa, in addition to black-and-white films. He never portrayed reality directly. During World War II, Dalí lived in the US, entering his “classic” phase, where science and religion recurred as themes. He worked prolifically, creating advertising, clothing, stage sets, jewellery and textiles, as well as films.
• When did Salvador Dalí live and work?+

  Salvador Dalí was born Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech on 11 May 1904, in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He began studying painting with Ramon Pichot in 1916, and his father exhibited his charcoal drawings in their family home in 1917. In 1922, Dalí entered the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, where he befriended Federico García Lorca and Luis Buñuel. He was suspended in 1923 for subversive behaviour, then permanently expelled in 1926. Dalí travelled to Paris in 1926, where he met Picasso. He collaborated with Buñuel on the film *Un Chien andalou* in 1928 and officially joined the Surrealist movement in 1929. During the 1930s, Dalí contributed to Surrealist publications and illustrated works by Surrealist writers. His first solo exhibition in the United States was held at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1933. In 1940, he fled to the United States, where he worked on theatrical productions, wrote, illustrated books, and painted. He returned to Europe in 1948, settling in Port Lligat, Spain. He continued to paint, write, and illustrate during the late 1960s.
• Where can i see salvador dalí paintings?+

  Salvador Dalí's works can be seen at Dalí Theatre and Museum, Salvador Dalí Museum, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and 2 other museums worldwide.
• Where can I see Salvador Dalí's work?+

  Two major museums are dedicated to the work of Salvador Dalí. The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Spain, was established by Dalí himself; it opened in 1974 in the burned-out shell of the town's main theatre. The museum displays works from throughout his career, from his early period to his later works. Another museum is located in St. Petersburg, Florida. It began as the private collection of Reynolds and Eleanor Morse, who started buying Dalí's art in the early 1940s. The Morses moved their collection from their home in Cleveland, Ohio, to a purpose-built museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1971. A new building was constructed in 2008, opening in 2011. It is now the largest collection of Dalí's art in the Western hemisphere, and the second-largest Dalí museum worldwide. Its holdings include over 2,100 works, with ninety-six oil paintings.
• Where did salvador dalí live?+

  Salvador Dalí was born in Figueres, a Catalonian town in Spain. In 1930, he set up home in a small fisherman’s hut in Portlligat, on the Costa Brava, in the municipality of Cadaqués, Spain, and over forty years, he bought more huts around it, and built his own grand villa out of them.
• Where was Salvador Dalí from?+

  Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech was born in Figueres, Spain, on 11 May 1904. Figueres is a small town that lies within the Catalan province of Gerona, in northern Spain. His parents were Salvador Dalí i Cusi and Felipa Domènech. Dalí senior held the position of public notary within Figueres, making him a respected local official. In 1921, Dalí enrolled in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. By 1925, he had his first solo exhibition at the Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona. He was expelled from the Academia in 1926. The artist lived in Port Lligat, Spain, from 1948. A museum dedicated to Dalí opened in Cleveland in 1971.
• Who did Salvador Dalí influence?+

  Salvador Dalí drew inspiration from various sources, both modern and historical. Early on, he was influenced by Joan Miró, who encouraged Dalí's move to Paris. Dalí's works from the 1920s, such as *Study for “Honey Is Sweeter than Blood”*, reflect Miró's style. Dalí saw himself as a saviour of painting, rescuing it from abstraction and other modern movements. He believed that a painter needed ultra-academic training, and his art demonstrates a respect for tradition. He channelled Vermeer and drew inspiration from Velázquez and Murillo in his treatment of texture and light. His still-life studies recall Zurbarán, and his use of "sacred geometry" echoes Leonardo da Vinci. Dalí's draughtsmanship was influenced by Ingres, and his staging of scenes owed a debt to 19th-century academic art. Dalí selectively used the work of Old Masters, borrowing motifs and citing passages from Raphael and Vermeer. However, his overall style remained distinctly his own, rooted in the academic style of the 19th century, even as his conceptualisation was imbued with surrealist imagination.
• Who influenced Salvador Dalí?+

  Salvador Dalí drew inspiration from various artists and movements throughout his career. Early on, he felt his teachers focused too much on Impressionism and Fauvism, so he independently studied the techniques of classical artists such as Raphael, Bronzino, Vermeer, and Velázquez. He believed ultra-academic training was essential. Dalí also admired Leonardo da Vinci, particularly his use of atmospheric perspective. He saw da Vinci as an innovator of paranoiac painting, even including an image of the Mona Lisa in his 1929 work, Imperial Monument to the Child-Woman. Vermeer was another significant influence. Dalí studied and copied Vermeer's works, even adopting his palette of blue, yellow, and pink. He declared his ambition to "be able to paint like Vermeer". He also learned from Velázquez, especially from Las Meninas, which he called an inexhaustible treasure hoard of computation and exact data. Though he joined the Surrealist group in 1929, and was inspired by Miró and Picasso, Dalí was later expelled in 1934. His style, characterised by attention to detail, illusionistic portrayals, and photographically realistic technique, resulted in fantastic and hallucinatory visions that he termed “hand-painted dream photographs”.