Biography of Salvador Dali

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí y Domènech, Marquis of Pubol was born on May 11, 1904 and died on January 23, 1989. He was a Spanish (Catalan) surrealist painter.

Salvador Dali was a skilled draftsman who is best known for the striking, bizarre yet beautiful images in his surrealist work. His painting skills are seen as attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work is The Persistence of Memory which was finished in 1931.

Besides painting, Dali also dabbled in film, sculpture, and photography. He even worked with Walt Disney on the Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was not released until 2003.

He was born in Catalonia, Spain, but he insisted on his Arab lineage. He claimed his ancestors were descended from the Moors who invaded Spain in 711 and stated, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."

Dali loved to draw attention to himself. Sometimes, his eccentric mannerisms would draw more attention than his artwork. Of course, his antics are partly the reason why he gained such great notoriety and led to many purchases of his works.

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