This artist remains the most significant exponent of Surrealism, with other notable contributors including Rene Magritte, André Masson, Max Ernst, André Breton, Yves Tanguy, Giorgio de Chirico and Joan Miró. There is also our Dali sculptures section. This section provides some of the most famous Salvador Dali paintings as a summary of his career, with more available throughout the website. Dali was also involved with Dadaism along with George Grosz and Marcel Duchamp. They both produced Cubist work, whilst Picasso was more on the fringes of the Surrealist group. The nearest comparison with Dali would be fellow Spaniard, Pablo Picasso, who offered similar innovation, variety and productivity over an extended period of time. He was also involved in film, sculpture and photography to various degrees, always looking for new ways to use his creativity. Dali was an ambitious and open minded artist whose career went far beyond the oil paintings found here. He even incorporated some of their specific work into his own unqiue style. Whilst drawing skills were the basis of all of his art, his painting ideas and techniques came from the Renaissance period, which has been influential on many famous names from the art world. Salvador Dali was predominantly a Surrealist painter who experimented with other art movements. We can also learn a lot about his own mind through the various portraits and self-portraits that can be found right across his career. He returned again and again to Freud's writings for inspiration. It was Freud's ground-breaking papers on the symbolism of sexuality in the psyche that encouraged Dali to search his subconscious for what was to become his signature dream images. Strangely, Freud’s influence on the young Dali was even more profound. Picasso's cubism is apparent in a vast array of Dali's work throughout his career. Miro had spoken highly of Salvador’s work to Picasso, and it is said that Picasso recognised Dali's genius almost immediately.

Dali was a huge fan of Picasso's when he met him in Paris through an introduction from Joan Miro. However, by far the greatest influence on his work came after he finished his formal education from two of the great men of his day Pablo Picasso, and Sigmund Freud. He explored all manner of styles including impressionism and cubism and began to develop a new 'hybrid' style which quickly drew the attention of critics, good and bad. It seemed a natural progression for him to study art in Madrid, where he was exposed to the works of all the greats, from Raphael to Velazquez. Encouraged and perhaps over indulged by his mother, Dali had his first private exhibition at the age of 13 and his first public one a year later. Dali's artistic talent was recognised at a young age. He was incredibly productive throughout his life, almost to the end, leaving us with a vast treasure trove of exquisite technique and though-provoking images that inspire fans the world over decades after his death. Indeed, although he was rejected by the surrealists of the time, he remains the poster-child for the movement today.

However, without doubt, his genius was most evident through his surrealist paintings. An artistic polymath, excelling in many fields of expression, Dali found inspiration and creative mediums everywhere. Instantly recognisable with his Velazquez-inspired moustache and his cape, Dali developed into a caricature of himself latterly, a role he relished and encouraged.

Salvador dalo