Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904. He was aleader in the new movement of art in the early 20th centurycalled Surrealism. In 1921 Dali studied at the SanFernando Acadamy of Fine Arts in Madrid. Here he wasable to associate and learn from such Spanish modernistsas Fedrico Garcia Lorca, and Luis Bundel. He also wasinfluenced by Italian futurists and the metaphysical paintingsof Giorgio de Chirico. In his early works, however, Daligave credit to his own Catalan sense of fantasy and hismegalomania as being his true motivating forces. Dali leftthe San Fernando Acadamy of Fine Arts in 1926, andmove to Paris where he frequented the Cafe Cyrano, whichwas the Oheadquarterso of the Parisan surrealists. In 1929 Cafe Cyrano featured an exhibit of Dalios own surrealistpaintings. Dali was also fascinated with the writings ofpsychologist Sigmund Freud.
He was so moved byFrueds theory that he subsequently vowed to his life sambition to Osystemize confusionO. Dali is best known forhis surrealist works. Surrealism is an art style in whichimagery is based on fantasy and the world of dreams. It isthought have grown out of the French literary movement inthe 1920 s and has its roots in Dadaism. These paintersdeveloped a dreamlike, or hallucinatory, imagery that wasall the more startling for its highly realistic rendering. Someof Dalios better known paintings are: Persistence Of Memory also know popularly as Soft WatchesO(1931), and The Sacrament Of The Last Supper(1955). These Paintings have become part of the definitiverecord of 20th Century art. Dali used many mediums toillustrate his inspirations. His most popular of course are hispaintings, but he also used such media as jewelry,advertisements, beer-bottle designs, ballet sets, andcostumes. Dali also experimented his talents in film as well.
In 1928 he and childhood mentor Luis Bundel producedthe famous surrealist film Un Chein Andalou(AnAndalusian Dog). He and Bundel teamed up once again in1931 for Age dor (The Age Of Gold). Dali waseasily recognized all over the world. He was know foreccentric yet styleish apparel always accompanied by aflowing cape, and a handlebar mustache, and poppingeyes. Salvador Dali lead a long life in which he influencedpeople everywhere he went. In 1989 Dali died at age 86, atremendous loss for the art community.
