Salvador Dalí first met André Breton in Paris in 1929.
Paris was the international center of Surrealism, and Breton was the movement’s principal theorist and organizer. Dalí traveled there during a decisive year in which he also collaborated with Luis Buñuel on Un Chien Andalou and met Gala in Cadaqués.
Dalí’s meeting with Breton helped connect his developing style to the organized Surrealist movement. His dreamlike imagery, meticulous technique and interest in irrational associations quickly attracted attention among Surrealists.
Dalí was formally welcomed into the movement soon afterward, but his relationship with Breton later became hostile. Political disagreements, personal conflicts and disputes over money and public behavior eventually led to Dalí’s expulsion from the Surrealist group in 1934.