Salvador Dali (full name Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech, Marquis Dali de Pubol, May 11, 1904, Figueres, Spain – January 23, 1989, same place) is one of Spain’s most famous artists, who became an integral part of world pop culture. He became famous not only for his art but also for his carefully constructed scandalous image, eccentric behavior and provocative statements about himself and his surroundings. He lived a long more or less happy life, was married to his one and only Gala (pronounced in the French manner, with an accent on the last syllable), whom he raised to a cult and worshiped to the end of his days.
Art peculiarities of Salvador Dali: he is most famous for his surrealistic paintings, though he worked in different styles – beginning with impressionism and cubism in his youth and finishing with neoclassicism in his later period. He was a jack-of-all-trades: he created illustrations, advertising logos and interiors, wrote memoirs, screenplays and artwork, published cookbooks and lithographs. He did not shy away from borrowing and numerous allusions to paintings of his favorite masters – Velázquez, Vermeer and others.