I dont really have much painting culture to apport something really meaningful to this topic, I'm more of just blown away by what Helm posted of Max Ernst, but I'll do my best :p
like everyone and their brother I admire Dhali, I completly loathe that melting clocks painting, it's one of his most boring works and because it's been so over-exposed people tend to understimate and sterotype Dalhi.
I like him because of the insane compositions he can do like in "the halucinogenic toreador" http://imagesource.allposters.com/images/pic/PF_NEW%5C09_09_2005_C/PF_1204265~El-torero-alucinogeno-1969-70-Posteres.jpg and the ascension http://www.chubber.net/images/the-ascension-of-christ-1958.jpg also how he messed with pixelart http://www.raymondjames.com/art/images/dali.jpg, but what really really wins me over, is that he did an stereogram where two diferent images superimpose to create an image that is two at the same time http://www.thedumbestgrunges666.blogger.com.br/Salvador%20Dali%20-%20Metamorphosis%20of%20Narcissus.jpg that just killed my artist pride right there. http://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion/img_obras_grande/Autoretrato52e7dd0724ca539fd4a52976609805d8.jpg look! ha, the bastard even went cubist XD.
I really like some stuff of Dali and respect many of the things he did, but he also did loads of wack shit. One being is selling and handing out presigned empty sheets of paper, which leads to the fair assumption that about 70% of all drawings signed Dali were not actually created by him, but by other artists mimicing him more or less. Also it's estimated that about 30% of "his" paintings were not done by him, again by other artists mimicing his style.
About " look! ha, the bastard even went cubist XD." What's so special about that? He did not invent cubism, it was a movement before his height as an artist and he made that painting when he was rather young, just trying out styles he was inpired by.
That being said, he made some paintings which are extraordinary as far as art history goes. Afaik he was the first artist to ever put a popular brand icon (the coca cola bottle to be specific) into one of his paintings, quite some time before Andy Warhol and the other Pop-Artists.
And he did a pixelation of some guys portrait in one of his images. I dunno which tho, i think it's rather obscure on prolly not on the net. I have a HUGE Dali book in Germany, which should be shipped over soonish. When it comes i will scan some of his more obscure stuff and post it here.
