The young Dalí attended the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. Early recognition of Dalí's talent came with his first one-man show in Barcelona in 1925. He became internationally known when three of his paintings, including The Basket of Bread (now in the Museum's collection), were shown in the third annual Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh in 1928.

The following year, Dalí held his first one-man show in Paris. He also joined the surrealists, led by former Dadaist Andre Breton. That year, Dalí met Gala Eluard when she visited him in Cadaques with her husband, poet Paul Eluard. She became Dalí's lover, muse, business manager, and chief inspiration.

Dalí soon became a leader of the surrealist movement. His painting, The Persistance of Memory, with the soft or melting watches is still one of the best-known surrealist works. But as the war approached, the apolitical Dalí clashed with the surrealists and was "expelled" from the surrealist group during a "trial" in 1934. He did however, exhibit works in international surrealist exhibitions throughout the decade but by 1940, Dalí was moving into a new style that eventually became known as his "classic" period, demonstrating a preoccupation with science and religion.

Dalí and Gala escaped from Europe during World War II, spending 1940-48 in the United States. These were very important years for the artist. The Museum of Modern Art in New York gave Dali his first major retrospective exhibit in 1941. This was followed in 1942 by the publication of Dali's autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dali.

As Dalí moved away from Surrealism and into his classic period, he began his series of 19 large canvases, many concerning scientific, historical or religous themes. Among the best known of these works are The Hallucinogenic Toreador, and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in the museum's collection, and The Sacrament of the Last Supper in the collection of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

In 1974, Dalí opened the Teatro Museo in Figueres, Spain. This was followed by retrospectives in Paris and London at the end of the decade. After the death of his wife, Gala, in 1982, Dalí's health began to fail. It deteriorated further after he was burned in a fire in his home in Pubol in 1984. Two years later, a pace-maker was implanted. Much of this part of his life was spent in seclusion, first in Pubol and later in his apartments at Torre Galatea, adjacent to the Teatro Museo. Salvador Dalí died on January 23, 1989 in Figueres from heart failure with respiratory complications.

As an artist, Salvador Dalí was not limited to a particular style or media. The body of his work, from early impressionist paintings through his transitional surrealist works, and into his classical period, reveals a constantly growing and evolving artist. Dalí worked in all media, leaving behind a wealth of oils, watercolors, drawings, graphics, and sculptures, jewels and objects of all descriptions.

Whether working from pure inspiration or on a commissioned illustration, Dalí's matchless insight and symbolic complexity are apparent. Above all, Dalí was a superb draftsman. His excellence as a creative artist will always set a standard for the art of the twentieth century.

Post Script: Dali Prints

Dali prints were created in different techniques: mostly etchings, but also engravings, woodcuts, lithographs and mixed-media. His graphic works were published either as individual sheets or as complete series or as portfolios or as illustrations in limited-edition books.

Information about Dali prints and other works have been collected for over forty years by Alfred Field, director of Dali Archives Ltd, New York, with the approval of the artist. In 1994, Alfred Field published The Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dali.

The catalog raisonne lists 1700 genuine and authentic graphic works. Albert Field groups them into original and cooperative prints. He defines original prints as those created by Salvador himself and cooperative prints as those supervised and approved by Dali.

Until 1980 Dali prints sold extremely well. When the source of new prints dried out due to the artist's involuntary retirement, the fakes showed up on the market. In 1992 Lee Catterall published his book The Great Dali Fraud & Other Deceptions. Consequently several art publishers and dealers and a former secretary of the artist were arrested and convicted.

Bogus Dali prints were produced in different variations:
• new print images that the artist had never made
• prints "after" Dali paintings or drawings sold as originals
• extended editions with forged signatures
• restrikes or facsimiles with forged signatures
• fake copies of real prints

For some editions, the publishers were allowed by contract with Dali to produce an extended edition. These extended editions were clearly differentiated from the first limited edition by a signature in the plate (sometimes in reverse and within the image). According to A. Field, Dali never signed unlimited editions.

The great master had caused some of the confusion himself by signing blank sheets on some occasions in order not to delay a publication due to his frequent shuttling between New York, Paris and Spain. Reports that Dali had signed between 40,000 and 350,000 blank sheets are rejected by A.Field as false rumors - spread intentionally by fraudulent publishers to cover up the fake signatures.

Fortunately the two paper mills that manufactured nearly all of the papers used for Dali prints, changed their watermark signs in 1980 by adding an infinity symbol. Thus most fakes can be identified quite easily. Prints that bear the Rives or Arches watermark with the infinity sign and have Dali's signatures, are fakes. Dali did not sign any prints after 1980.

Fake Dali prints continue to circulate in the art market. Many are now offered on the Internet. How can an art buyer protect himself against such fraud?

Simply trusting established art galleries or auction houses is nice, but it is an insufficient protection. Incompetent or/and fraudulent art dealers can be found in crummy basement shops as well as in posh galleries and auction rooms.

Art professionals use reference books, called catalog raisonne, to identify the authenticity of an art work. For Dali prints two such reference books are available:
• The Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dali, by Albert Field, 1996, published by the Salvador Dali Archives Ltd., ISBN 0-9653611-0-1
• Ralf Michler and others, "The Catalog Raisonne of Etchings and Mixed-Media Prints, 1924-1980", and "Catalog Raisonne of Prints II, Lithographs and Wood Engravings"

Before you buy a Dali print, ask the seller for a copy from at least one of these two reference catalogs. As a serious art collector you should consider buying one for yourself.