
Lobsters & lunacy The zaniest Surrealist of them all Painter sculptor writer film-maker & all-round showman Salvador Dalí (1904 1989)was one of the twentieth century s greatest exhibitionists & eccentrics One of the first artists to apply the insights of Freudian psychoanalysis to art he is celebrated in particular for his surrealist practice with such conceits as the soft watches or the lobster telephone now hallmarks of the surrealist enterprise & of modernism in general Dalí frequently described his paintings as h&-painted dream photographs Their tantalizing tension & interest resides in the precise rendering of bizarre elements & incongruous arrangements As Dalí himself explained he painted with the most imperialist fury of precision but only to systematize confusion & thus to help discredit completely the world of reality Revolutionizing the role of the artist the mustache-twirling Dalí also had the intuition to parade a controversial persona in the public arena & through printmaking fashion advertising writing & film to create work that could be consumed & not just contemplated on a gallery wall This book explores both the painting & the personality of Dalí introducing his technical skill as well as his provocative compositions & challenging themes of death decay & eroticism About the Series Each book in TASCHEN s Basic Art series features a detailed chronological summary of the life & oeuvre of the artist covering his or her cultural & historical importancea concise biographyapproximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions