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Dalí i Domènech, Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto (1904–1989) [REVISED AND EXPANDED] By King, Elliott H.
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Salvador Dalí was a Catalan artist well known for his dreamlike paintings and sculptures as well as his eccentric appearance and public personality. Dalí was already a recognised avant-garde painter in Catalunya when, in 1929, he collaborated with his friend Luis Buñuel on the 17-minute short film, Un Chien Andalou. The film caught the attention of the surrealist group in Paris and soon Dalí was one of the movement’s foremost members, thanks largely to his meticulous painting technique coupled with a penchant for self-promotion. Dalí clashed with the surrealists on a number of issues, and in 1939 he was formally expelled from the movement. He moved to the United States and spent the next four decades working in Spain, New York, and Paris. Although no longer an official member of the surrealist group, he presented himself as Surrealism’s spokesperson, becoming one of the first ‘celebrity artists’. His diverse body of work includes paintings, drawings, films, sculptures, theatre sets and costumes, numerous books, articles, and poems, and collaborations with prominent photographers, fashion designers, cinema directors, and jewellery designers.