Dali began his career as an enfant terrible in the schools of Figueras
and then went to the School of Fine Arts in Madrid where he quickly
learned the fundamentals of drawing. At this time, however, he was
more interested in studying Freud and art magazines that specialized
in Cubism, Futurism, and metaphysical
art. In about 1928, he went to Paris, attached himself with passionate
conviction to the French Surrealists and soon married Gala Eluard,
former wife of the poet Paul Eluard, one of the founders of the movement.
However, as Dali became absorbed in the study of Italian Renaissance
painters, the French Surrealists rejected his style as too academic
in technique and, thus, he left France for New York.
Dali's work is distinguished by precise and finely executed draughtsmanship
of almost photographic exactitude. Paint is applied smoothly and evenly
in a varied and generally muted palette that occasionally breaks out
into glaring color. His subject matter is that of the Freudian dream
world and of metamorphosis of objects, people, and animals, arranged
in unexpected and often inexplicable combinations. A prodigious worker,
Dali has produced large quantities of paintings that include portraits,
landscapes with figures, figures seemingly superimposed on landscapes,
and, more recently, religious subjects. He has also done illustrations
for books, lithographs and etchings, and jewelry designs.
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