Masters of Art

From politics to religion, psychology to nuclear physics, learn how Dali's work embraces nearly every major historic development of the twentieth century.

Although Salvador Dali's characteristically provocative behavior and bizarre pictorial language made him an outlier in high society, his body of work reflects his century's most important innovations and concerns.

This introduction to Dali's work features dozens of exquisite reproductions as it traces the artist's development, life and career. Readers will learn how he was influenced by contemporaries Miro, Ernst, and de Chirico as well as by Raphael and Gaudi. It explores his early adoption of Surrealism, his fascination with the subconscious, and his antipathy toward war. It illustrates how Dali's return to the Catholic church and his interest in nuclear and atomic physics was manifested in his paintings; how he experimented in film and, later, even created holograms.

By making Dali's often perplexing art accessible to audiences of every level, this engaging introduction helps readers understand why he remains one of the most influential – and imitated – artists of all time.