SALVADOR DALI was born in 1904 in Figueres, Spain. As a young adult, he attended the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. Early recognition came with a one-man show in Barcelona; but he gained international acclaim when three of his works were exhibited in America in 1928. The following year, he met Gala Eluard, who would become his wife, and greatest inspiration. At that time he joined the Paris Surrealist Group, and became the best known of the surrealists. In 1974, Dali opened up his own museum in Figueres. After the death of Gala in 1982, his own health began to fail, and he died in 1989 of heart failure. The Salvador Dali Museum, home of the world’s most comprehensive collection of Dali’s works, opened in St. Petersburg, Fl. in 1982.