Dal: The Paintings: 1904-1989

At the age of six, Salvador Dal (1904–1989) wanted to be a cook. At the age of seven, he wanted to be Napoleon. Since then, he later said, my ambition has steadily grown, and my megalomania with it. Now I want only to be Salvador Dal, I have no greater wish. Throughout his life, Dal was out to become Dal: that is, one of the most significant artists and eccentrics of the 20th century.

This weighty volume is the most complete study of Dal's painted works ever published. After years of research, Robert Descharnes and Gilles Nret located painted works by the master that had been inaccessible for years-so many, in fact, that almost half the featured illustrations appear in public for the first time in this book.

More than a catalogue raisonn, this book contextualizes Dal's oeuvre and its meanings by examining contemporary documents, from writings and drawings to material from other facets of his work, including ballet, cinema, fashion, advertising, and objets d'art.