Did you know that Salvador Dali was terrified of grasshoppers?

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http://www.castlegalleries.com/artists/salvador_dali/profile.asp

Salvador Dalí was one of the greatest Spanish painters of all time, and one of the most important figures in the history of the modern art movement. Both Dalí's extraordinary talent and odd personality helped him to rise above the rest of the twentieth century surrealists.

At the age of ten, Dalí was already learning to paint under prestigious teachers in renowned art schools. Much of Dalí's work and life was affected by his personality which was regarded as paranoid on one hand, but arrogant and greedy on the other. This was clearly evident upon his second expulsion from the Royal Academy of Art in Madrid, caused by his own assertion that he held greater knowledge of his subject than those who taught him. As a result, he never took his final examinations, yet his achievements show that this was hardly a hindrance to his career in art. snip

Grasshoppers

Dalí had an irrational fear of grasshoppers, stemming from his childhood torment by other children, who often threw grasshoppers and other insects at him. When they appear in Dalí's work, grasshoppers are used as a symbol of destruction, waste and fear. Dalí represents them with a fearful nature, as large and intimidating in comparison to the other figures, and they are often shown in the act of eating the main subject of the work.