Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) is one of the most original and controversial figures of 20th-century modern art. Born in Catalonia, Spain, Dalí possessed a powerful imagination and technical drawing skills from an early age. His education at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid introduced him to different artistic movements such as impressionism and cubism. Meeting André Breton and other Surrealist artists in Paris in 1929 was a turning point in his career.

Surrealism is an art and literary movement that emerged in the 1920s, advocating the free expression of the subconscious and the reflection of dream logic in art. In this movement, the boundaries between reality and imagination are blurred, and illogical scenes are presented with extremely realistic techniques. Dalí developed this understanding with his own technique, which he called the “paranoiac-critical method,” placing irrational images in a conscious compositional order.

One of the artist's most famous works, “La persistencia de la memoria” (The Persistence of Memory, 1931), symbolizes the relativity of time and the fragility of perception with its melting clocks. “Metamorphosis of Narcissus” (1937) interprets a mythological theme with a double-image composition. “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” (1946) presents religious symbols in a dreamlike atmosphere.