The Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí broke with convention. He made the world sit up and listen and think about art in a completely different way from before. He is well known for his work in Cubism, taking conventional images and painting them in a sort of block by block manner, giving the pictures a highly unusual appearance.
Dali also experimented with sculpture in a way that would not be out of place in a modern art museum today. One of his more surreal pieces of work is the famous telephone lobster, whereby Dali replaces the receiver with a lobster. In that piece, there’s a distinct resemblance to the later work of Damien Hurst, who used animals extensively in his highly provocative formaldehyde series.
Having depicted death and war in a highly graphic and unusual manner, Dali also labelled his works with provocative names. The Great Masturbator, which is currently on display in his native country of Spain, is thought to depict the artist’s complex relationship with sex. Dali was also celebrated among the rich and famous. He painted Sigmund Freud, partied with Coco Chanel and had friendships with many notable figures.