The present publication is based on the author's 1997 doctoral thesis, "Dynaton, Versuch einer intellektuellen Biografie des melancholischen Malers Wolfgang Paalen." The catalogue raisonné covers paintings, sculptures and other objects executed between 1920 and 1959. This present study is based mainly on original photographs, taken, archived and annotated by the artist (preserved by his sister-in-law). Research was also based on the archival records of the artist's widow and of Gordon Onslow Ford, as well as the author's own collection of reproductions from various sources: museums, collection catalogues, and other the literature (including altered works and later versions).