At an early age, Salvador Dali's parents encouraged him to produce highly sophisticated drawings and was sent to drawing school in Figueres, Spain, in 1916. In 1922, Dalí moved to Madrid and studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando where he already drew attention as an eccentric and dandy. He was influenced by several different artistic styles, including Metaphysics and Cubism. Dalí was expelled from the Academy in 1926, shortly before his final exams when he was accused of starting an unrest.

Later, Dali visited Paris where he met Pablo Picasso whom he revered. Picasso had already heard favorable reports about Dalí from Joan Miró, a fellow Catalan who introduced him to many Surrealist friends. As he developed his own style over the next few years, Dalí made a number of works heavily influenced by Picasso and Miró.

Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.