Dali

Salvador Dali (1904-89) is one of the most controversial and paradoxical artists of the twentieth century. A painter of considerable virtuosity, he used a traditional illusionistic style to create disturbing images filled with references to violence, death, cannibalism and bizarre sexual practices, from the extraordinary fluid watches in The Persistence of Memory to the gruesome monster in Soft Construction with Boiled Beans and the fetishistic lobster in the famous Lobster Telephone. Born in Figueras, Spain, Dali started out as a Cubist, but subsequently became involved with the Surrealists in Paris, the most revolutionary artists of the time.