Was Salvador Dalí a significant artist?

Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí Domènech (normally referred to as Salvador Dalí) was a well-known twentieth-century artist whose work is displayed in many major museums and who is discussed in most works about art history concerning his period. Although the question of whether his work will prove to have the sort of enduring interest as artists often compared to him like Miró and Magritte remains open, Dalí will definitely remain important for those concerned with the surrealist movement in art and its role in international modernism.

Dalí was born on 1904 in Figueres, Spain, part of a region known as Catalonia. He died in 1989. Dalí showed early promise as an art student and was influenced by Renaissance art and cubism. His major works, such as The Persistence of Memory (showing melting clocks), combine almost hyper-realistic draftsmanship with dreamlike subject matter. In addition to painting, Dalí worked in other media, often in collaboration with other artists. Dalí's work included designing sets for plays, ballets, and department store windows. While some artists criticized Dalí for his commercialism, others regard his work as important in connecting surrealism with popular culture.