However, he attempts to make his artwork realistic through the immense detail that is shown in it. This avant-garde style evolved with the help of surrealism. The Surrealists believed that imagination could be better implemented through artistic and political freedom. The aim of the movement was to resolve the contradictions that existed between dream and reality. The artists involved in the movement painted illogical scenes with precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself and an idea. Dali's artwork represents all of these attributes with the bizarre imagery and techniques that he uses in his art. The Surrealist movement also included many artists that would greatly influence Salvador Dali (Descharnes, 1962).
Salvador Dali's personal style evolved from a combination of influences: his contact with the Surrealism movement, his wife Gala, other artists, and the wars that he lived through. Other artists had some of the most important impacts on Dali's art. Pablo Picasso greatly affected Dali by introducing him to Cubism and other techniques. Later, the Surrealist movement encouraged Dali to use odd imagery and different techniques. The Temptation of St. Anthony, which features a line of elephants carrying different objects with disproportionally long and thin legs, is perhaps a direct result of this influence. The Renaissance period and it's ideas were a strong factor in many of Dali's art as well. The works of Raphael, Bronzino, Vermeer, and Velasquez contributed to the classical style that Salvador used. Another major influence of Salvador Dali was his wife, Gala. Dali met her in 1929 while she was still married to another Surrealist. They eventually married and Gala would consequently become Dali's main influence in both his personal life and in his paintings. She influenced him by encouraging his talent and also later becoming his manager.
