A master of Surrealism both in his life and in his painting, Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was not only a living legend but an artist of unquestioned technical excellence. Born in Catalonia, he discovered the “metaphysical painting” of De Chirico, who brought him into the Surrealist movement in 1928. He became one of its most notorious exponents, only to be expelled in 1931. Humorous or horrific, erotic or mystical, academic pastiche or wildest fantasy, Dali’s work refuses to be categorised. Odd that Surrealism should have found in this self-proclaimed genius its best advocate.

Odd too, that the charming sheep on the 1958 Mouton Rothschild label has all the innocent charm of a drawing by a child.