Salvador Dali is perhaps the most universally famous and popular twentieth-century artist. What accounts for this popularity? Is it his excellence as an artist? The accessibility of his imagery? Or his genius as a self-publicist? In a searching text, completely revised and updated in this edition to incorporate new information that has come to light since Dali's death in 1989, Dawn Ades considers some of the puzzling questions raised by the Dali phenomenon. His early years, the development of his technique and style, his relationship with the Surrealists, his exploitation of Freudian ideas, and the image which Dali created of himself as the mad genius artist are all explored in this brilliant and thought provoking study.

Dawn Ades is a professor emerita of the history and theory of art at the University of Essex. She has written extensively on Dada, Surrealism, photography, and women artists, among other topics. Her many books also include Dalí and, with Neil Cox and David Hopkins, Marcel Duchamp, both in the World of Art series.