Many famous artists that we know today as "geniuses" were often judged and misunderstood. Artists Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet all faced rejection by the public. However, they still produced many beautiful works of art that are cherished today along with their brains; and that was the case of Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali y Domenech; one of Spain's greatest artists. Salvador Dali was born May 11, 1904 in Figueras, Spain. He is best known for his surrealist paintings and his uniqueness. But if Dali was misunderstood and rejected, then how did he get there? When he was an art student in Madrid and Barcelona, Dali assimilated many artistic styles and depictions. It was not until the 1920s that Dali became fascinated with surrealism. Sigmund Freud's writings and the Paris Surrealists inspired Dali to explore his subconscious mind and turn those thoughts into art. To unlock his subconscious mind, Dali induced hallucinatory states in his mind through a process he described as "paranoiac critical". Dali then painted in his new style (which was maturing very quickly at this rate) and from 1929 to 1937 he produced his most famous paintings. He depicted a dreamlike world where objects were juxtaposed, deformed, and metamorphosed in a bizarre and unique fashion. Dali painted things that no human has thought of before: and so he was seen as a "madman". Dali continued being surreal and bizarre up until his death on January 23, 1989 when he died of heart failure. Dali is still remembered today through his art, which you can see at The Dali Museum today at Enterprise Village. Even though Dali was challenged, he still triumphed and is known as the greatest surrealist painter of Spain.