From politics to religion, psychology to nuclear physics, discover how Dalí's work spans almost every major historical development of the 20th century.

Although Salvador Dalí's characteristically provocative behaviour and strange pictorial language made him an outsider in high society, his work reflects the most important innovations and concerns of his century.

This introduction to Dalí's work features dozens of exquisite reproductions while tracing the artist's development, life, and career. Readers will learn how he was influenced by his contemporaries Miró, Ernst and de Chirico, as well as Raphael and Gaudí. It explores his early adoption of Surrealism, his fascination with the subconscious and his antipathy towards war. It illustrates how Dalí's return to the Catholic church and his interest in nuclear and atomic physics manifested themselves in his paintings; how he experimented in cinema and, later, even created holograms.

By making Dalí's often bewildering art accessible to audiences of all levels, this engaging introduction helps readers understand why he remains one of the most influential - and most imitated - artists of all time.

Publisher: Prestel