Oiseau (1928)

Dali's journey to success began early in life. He painted this image, one of his earliest explorations of Surrealism, when he was just 24. He was heavily influenced by the writings of Andre Breton, the leader of the Surrealist movement who had written The Surrealist Manifesto four years earlier.

Surrealism encouraged artists to tap into the unconscious world of dreams and desires and access new and uncomfortable truths about ourselves. This deceptively simple and mesmerisingly odd image can currently be seen in Edinburgh's Dean Gallery.