Editing Salvador Dalí (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
[[File:Familia Dalí (h 1910).jpg|thumb|The Dalí family in 1910: from the upper left, aunt Maria Teresa, mother, father, Salvador Dalí, aunt Caterina (later became the second wife of father), sister Anna Maria, and grandmother Anna]]

Salvador Dalí was born on 11 May 1904, at 8:45&nbsp;am,<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 22</ref> on the first floor of Carrer Monturiol, 20 in the town of Figueres, in the [[Empordà]] [[Comarques of Catalonia|region]], close to the French border in Catalonia, Spain.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://elpais.com/diario/2008/02/14/catalunya/1202954863_850215.html|title=Dalí recupera su casa natal, que será un museo en 2010|date=14 February 2008|access-date=26 June 2017|newspaper=El País|archive-date=2 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702002432/http://elpais.com/diario/2008/02/14/catalunya/1202954863_850215.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Dalí's older brother, who had also been named Salvador (born 12 October 1901), had died of gastroenteritis nine months earlier, on 1 August 1903. His father, Salvador Luca Rafael Aniceto Dalí Cusí (1872–1950)<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 6, 459, 633, 689</ref> was a middle-class lawyer and notary,<ref name=Llongueras>Llongueras, Lluís. (2004) ''Dalí'', Ediciones B – Mexico. {{ISBN|84-666-1343-9}}.</ref> an anti-clerical atheist and Catalan federalist, whose strict disciplinary approach was tempered by his wife, Felipa Domènech Ferrés (1874–1921),<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 16, 82, 634, 644</ref> who encouraged her son's artistic endeavors.<ref name=Rojas>Rojas, Carlos. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MWF5s2yfFqwC Salvador Dalí, Or the Art of Spitting on Your Mother's Portrait] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419024412/https://books.google.com/books?id=MWF5s2yfFqwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 |date=19 April 2016 }}'', Penn State Press (1993). {{ISBN|0-271-00842-3}}.</ref> In the summer of 1912, the family moved to the top floor of Carrer Monturiol 24 (presently 10).<ref name="Gibson, Ian 1997">Gibson, Ian (1997)</ref><ref>Dalí, ''[[The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí]]'', 1948, London: Vision Press, p. 33</ref> Dalí later attributed his "love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes"<ref>{{cite book | author=Ian Gibson | title=The Shameful Life of Salvador Dalí | year=1997 | publisher=W. W. Norton & Company | url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/g/gibson-dali.html | access-date=12 February 2017 | archive-date=19 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219133318/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/g/gibson-dali.html | url-status=live }} Gibson found out that "Dalí" (and its many variants) is an extremely common surname in Arab countries like [[Morocco]], [[Tunisia]], [[Algeria]] or [[Egypt]]. On the other hand, also according to Gibson, Dalí's mother's family, the Domènech of [[Barcelona]], had Jewish roots.</ref> to an "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descendants of the [[Moors]].<ref name="Meisler" /><ref name="isbn0-571-19380-3">Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 238–39</ref>

Dalí was haunted by the idea of his dead brother throughout his life, mythologizing him in his writings and art. Dalí said of him, "[we] resembled each other like two drops of water, but we had different reflections."<ref name="Dalí, Secret Life, p.2">Dalí, Secret Life, p. 2</ref> He "was probably the first version of myself but conceived too much in the absolute".<ref name="Dalí, Secret Life, p.2"/> Images of his brother would reappear in his later works, including ''Portrait of My Dead Brother'' (1963).<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997). p. 23</ref>

Dalí also had a sister, Ana María, who was three years younger,<ref name=Llongueras /> and whom Dalí painted 12 times between 1923 and 1926.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997). p. 109</ref>

His childhood friends included future [[FC Barcelona]] footballers [[Emili Sagi-Barba]] and [[Josep Samitier]]. During holidays at the Catalan resort town of [[Cadaqués]], the trio played football together.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C7zKauiqMG8C|title=El fútbol tiene música|last=Martín Otín|first=José Antonio|publisher=Córner|year=2011|isbn=978-84-15242-00-0|chapter=Un tanguito de arrabal|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008111944/https://books.google.com/books?id=C7zKauiqMG8C|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dalí attended the Municipal Drawing School at Figueres in 1916 and also discovered modern painting on a summer vacation trip to Cadaqués with the family of [[Ramon Pichot]], a local artist who made regular trips to Paris.<ref name=Llongueras /> The next year, Dalí's father organized an exhibition of his charcoal drawings in their family home. He had his first public exhibition at the Municipal Theatre in Figueres in 1918,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dali.jp/en/collection/dali.php|title=Who was Salvador Dalí?｜Collection｜Morohashi Museum of Modern Art|website=dali.jp|access-date=15 December 2018|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215223351/http://dali.jp/en/collection/dali.php|url-status=live}}</ref> a site he would return to decades later. In early 1921 the Pichot family introduced Dalí to [[Futurism]]. That same year, Dalí's uncle Anselm Domènech, who owned a bookshop in Barcelona, supplied him with books and magazines on [[Cubism]] and contemporary art.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 78–81</ref>

On 6 February 1921, Dalí's mother died of uterine cancer.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 82</ref> Dalí was 16 years old and later said his mother's death "was the greatest blow I had experienced in my life. I worshipped her ... I could not resign myself to the loss of a being on whom I counted to make invisible the unavoidable blemishes of my soul."<ref name="Meisler" /><ref>Dalí, Secret Life, pp. 152–53</ref> After the death of Dalí's mother, Dalí's father married her sister. Dalí did not resent this marriage, because he had great love and respect for his aunt.<ref name=Llongueras />

=== Madrid, Barcelona and Paris ===
[[File:Salvador Dalí, Federico García Lorca, Barcelona, 1925.jpg|thumb|upright|Dalí with [[Federico García Lorca]], Turó Park de la Guineueta, Barcelona, 1925]]
In 1922, Dalí moved into the [[Residencia de Estudiantes]] (Students' Residence) in Madrid<ref name=Llongueras /> and studied at the [[Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando]] (San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts). A lean {{convert|1.72|m|ftin|frac=8}} tall,<ref>As listed in [http://www.gaudiclub.com/esp/e_links/dali/2004mar18_1.asp his prison record of 1924] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225164519/http://www.gaudiclub.com/esp/e_links/dali/2004mar18_1.asp |date=25 February 2021 }}, aged 20. However, his hairdresser and biographer, Luis Llongueras, stated Dalí was {{convert|1.74|m|ftin|frac=8}} tall.</ref> Dalí already drew attention as an eccentric and dandy. He had long hair and sideburns, coat, stockings, and knee-breeches in the style of English [[artistic dress movement|aesthetes]] of the late 19th century.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 90</ref>

At the Residencia, he became close friends with [[Pepín Bello]], [[Luis Buñuel]], [[Federico García Lorca]], and others associated with the Madrid avant-garde group Ultra.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 92–98</ref> The friendship with Lorca had a strong element of mutual passion,<ref>For more in-depth information about the Lorca-Dalí connection see ''Lorca-Dalí: el Amor Que no pudo ser'' and ''The Shameful Life of Salvador Dalí'', both by [[Ian Gibson (author)|Ian Gibson]].</ref> but Dalí said he rejected the poet's sexual advances.<ref name="conversations">Bosquet, Alain, ''[http://www.ubu.com/historical/dali/dali_conversations.pdf Conversations with Dalí] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728071536/http://www.ubu.com/historical/dali/dali_conversations.pdf |date=28 July 2011 }}'', 1969. pp. 19–20. (PDF)</ref> Dalí's friendship with Lorca was to remain one of his most emotionally intense relationships until the poet's death at the hands of [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] forces in 1936 at the beginning of the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref name="Gibson, Ian 1997, passim"/>

Also in 1922, he began what would become a lifelong relationship with the [[Museo del Prado|Prado Museum]], which he felt was, 'incontestably the best museum of old paintings in the world.'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/breaking-news/monographic-dali-raphael/salvador-dali-museo-del-prado/|title=Salvador Dalí and the Museo del Prado: A Prolonged Fascination &#124; Fundació Gala – Salvador Dalí|access-date=15 July 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715151331/https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/breaking-news/monographic-dali-raphael/salvador-dali-museo-del-prado/|url-status=live}}</ref> Each Sunday morning, Dalí went to the Prado to study the works of the great masters. 'This was the start of a monk-like period for me, devoted entirely to solitary work: visits to the Prado, where, pencil in hand, I analyzed all of the great masterpieces, studio work, models, research.'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/breaking-news/monographic-dali-raphael/salvador-dali-museo-del-prado/#nota-2|title=Salvador Dalí and the Museo del Prado: A Prolonged Fascination &#124; Fundació Gala – Salvador Dalí|access-date=15 July 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715151331/https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/breaking-news/monographic-dali-raphael/salvador-dali-museo-del-prado/#nota-2|url-status=live}}</ref>

Those paintings by Dalí in which he experimented with Cubism earned him the most attention from his fellow students, since there were no Cubist artists in Madrid at the time.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=K0H3fYErskYC&dq=dali+Cubist+art%2C+students%2C+a+catalog+given+to+him+by+Pichot&pg=PA24 Michael Elsohn Ross, ''Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806230719/https://books.google.fr/books?id=K0H3fYErskYC&lpg=PA24&ots=-ktQ5sQaeb&dq=dali%20Cubist%20art%2C%20students%2C%20a%20catalog%20given%20to%20him%20by%20Pichot&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q=dali%20Cubist%20art,%20students,%20a%20catalog%20given%20to%20him%20by%20Pichot&f=false |date=6 August 2020 }}, Chicago Review Press, 2003, p. 24. {{ISBN|1-61374-275-4}}</ref> ''[[Cabaret Scene]]'' (1922) is a typical example of such work. Through his association with members of the Ultra group, Dalí became more acquainted with avant-garde movements, including [[Dada]] and [[Futurism]].  One of his earliest works to show a strong Futurist and Cubist influence was the watercolor ''Night-Walking Dreams'' (1922).<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 97–98</ref> At this time, Dalí also read Freud and [[Comte de Lautréamont|Lautréamont]] who were to have a profound influence on his work.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 116–119</ref>

In May 1925, Dalí exhibited eleven works in a group exhibition held by the newly formed ''Sociedad Ibérica de Artistas'' in Madrid. Seven of the works were in his Cubist mode and four in a more realist style. Several leading critics praised his work.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 123–25</ref> Dalí held his first solo exhibition at [[Galeries Dalmau]] in Barcelona, from 14 to 27 November 1925.<ref name="Fèlix Fanés">[https://books.google.com/books?id=bDpziok_K7gC&q=galeries+dalmau Fèlix Fanés, ''Salvador Dalí: The Construction of the Image, 1925–1930''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422133234/https://books.google.es/books?id=bDpziok_K7gC&dq=galeries+dalmau&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=22 April 2018 }}, Yale University Press, 2007, {{ISBN|0-300-09179-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://pandora.girona.cat/viewer.vm?id=2934417&view=dalmau&lang=en| title = Exposició Salvador Dalí, Galeries Dalmau, 14–28 November 1925, exhibition catalog| access-date = 24 May 2018| archive-date = 2 May 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180502212540/http://pandora.girona.cat/viewer.vm?id=2934417&view=dalmau&lang=en| url-status = live}}</ref> This exhibition, before his exposure to Surrealism, included twenty-two works and was a critical and commercial success.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 126–27</ref>

In April 1926, Dalí made his first trip to Paris, where he met [[Pablo Picasso]], whom he revered.<ref name="Meisler"/> Picasso had already heard favorable reports about Dalí from [[Joan Miró]], a fellow Catalan who later introduced him to many Surrealist friends.<ref name="Meisler" /> As he developed his own style over the next few years, Dalí made some works strongly influenced by Picasso and Miró.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 130–31</ref> Dalí was also influenced by the work of [[Yves Tanguy]], and he later allegedly told Tanguy's niece, "I pinched everything from your uncle Yves."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 163</ref>

Dalí left the Royal Academy in 1926, shortly before his final exams.<ref name="Meisler" /> His mastery of painting skills at that time was evidenced by his realistic ''[[The Basket of Bread]]'', painted in 1926.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dali-gallery.com/html/galleries/painting05.htm |title=Paintings Gallery No.&nbsp;5 |publisher=Dali-gallery.com |access-date=22 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827234135/http://www.dali-gallery.com/html/galleries/painting05.htm |archive-date=27 August 2010 }}</ref>

Later that year he exhibited again at Galeries Dalmau, from 31 December 1926 to 14 January 1927, with the support of the art critic {{Interlanguage link|Sebastià Gasch|es}}.<ref name="Pàmies">[https://repositori.upf.edu/bitstream/handle/10230/22029/Andres_13.pdf?sequence=1 Elisenda Andrés Pàmies, ''Les Galeries Dalmau, un project de modernist a la Ciutat de Barcelona''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809034049/https://repositori.upf.edu/bitstream/handle/10230/22029/Andres_13.pdf?sequence=1 |date=9 August 2017 }}, 2012–13, Facultat d'Humanitats, Universitat Pompeu Fabra</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://pandora.girona.cat/viewer.vm?id=2934087&view=dalmau&lang=en| title = Exposició de Salvador Dalí, Galeries Dalmau, Passeig de Gràcia, 31 December 1926 – 14 January 1927, exhibition catalog (other versions)| access-date = 24 May 2018| archive-date = 2 May 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180502212327/http://pandora.girona.cat/viewer.vm?id=2934087&view=dalmau&lang=en| url-status = live}}</ref> The show included twenty-three paintings and seven drawings, with the "Cubist" works displayed in a separate section from the "objective" works. The critical response was generally positive with ''Composition with Three Figures (Neo-Cubist Academy)'' singled out for particular attention.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 147–49</ref>

[[File:DaliGreatMasturbator.jpg|thumb|300 px|''The Great Masturbator'' (1929); oil on canvas, 110 cm × 150 cm, [[Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía]]]]

From 1927, Dalí's work became increasingly influenced by Surrealism. Two of these works, ''Honey is Sweeter than Blood'' (1927) and ''Gadget and Hand'' (1927), were shown at the annual Autumn Salon (Saló de tardor) in Barcelona in October 1927. Dalí described the earlier of these works, ''Honey is Sweeter than Blood'', as "equidistant between Cubism and Surrealism".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 162</ref> The works featured many elements that were to become characteristic of his Surrealist period including dreamlike images, precise draftsmanship, idiosyncratic iconography (such as rotting donkeys and dismembered bodies), and lighting and landscapes strongly evocative of his native Catalonia. The works provoked bemusement among the public and debate among critics about whether Dalí had become a Surrealist.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 171</ref>

Influenced by his reading of Freud, Dalí increasingly introduced suggestive sexual imagery and symbolism into his work. He submitted ''Dialogue on the Beach (Unsatisfied Desires)'' (1928) to the Barcelona Autumn Salon for 1928; however, the work was rejected because "it was not fit to be exhibited in any gallery habitually visited by the numerous public little prepared for certain surprises."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 287</ref> The resulting scandal was widely covered in the Barcelona press and prompted a popular Madrid illustrated weekly to publish an interview with Dalí.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 186–190</ref>

Some trends in Dalí's work that would continue throughout his life were already evident in the 1920s. Dalí was influenced by many styles of art, ranging from the most academically classic, to the most cutting-edge [[avant-garde]].<ref>Hodge, Nicola, and Libby Anson. ''The A–Z of Art: The World's Greatest and Most Popular Artists and Their Works''. California: Thunder Bay Press, 1996. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060921144258/https://ucmshare.ucmerced.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-94961/Dali+Salvador.doc Online citation].</ref> His classical influences included [[Raphael]], [[Bronzino]], [[Francisco de Zurbarán]], [[Johannes Vermeer|Vermeer]] and [[Diego Velázquez|Velázquez]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2005-03.html |title=Phelan, Joseph |publisher=Artcyclopedia.com |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=13 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313074331/http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2005-03.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Exhibitions of his works attracted much attention and a mixture of praise and puzzled debate from critics who noted an apparent inconsistency in his work by the use of both traditional and modern techniques and motifs between works and within individual works.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6EvIx6zOuqgC&q=dalmau%2C+dali&pg=PA317 ''Roger Rothman, Tiny Surrealism: Salvador Dal and the Aesthetics of the Small''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806232725/https://books.google.fr/books?id=6EvIx6zOuqgC&lpg=PA319&dq=%22August%20Agero%22%20%22galeries%20dalmau%22&pg=PA317#v=snippet&q=dalmau,%20dali&f=false |date=6 August 2020 }}, U of Nebraska Press, 2012. p. 202. {{ISBN|0-300-12106-7}}</ref>

In the mid-1920s Dalí grew a neatly trimmed mustache. In later decades he cultivated a more flamboyant one in the manner of 17th-century Spanish master painter [[Diego Velázquez]], and this mustache became a well known Dalí icon.<ref>[https://archive.thedali.org/mwebimages/MIMSY%20SUPPORTING%20DOC/Dali%20and%20the%20Spanish%20Baroque%20Guide.pdf ''Salvador Dali and the Spanish Baroque: From Still Life to Velazquez''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806232229/https://archive.thedali.org/mwebimages/MIMSY%20SUPPORTING%20DOC/Dali%20and%20the%20Spanish%20Baroque%20Guide.pdf |date=6 August 2020 }}, Salvado Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Fl. 2007</ref>

=== 1929 to World War II ===
[[File:SalvadorDali-SoftConstructionWithBeans.jpg|thumb|300 px|''Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)'' 1936; oil on canvas, 100 x 99 cm, [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]]]

In 1929, Dalí collaborated with Surrealist film director [[Luis Buñuel]] on the short film {{lang|fr|[[Un Chien Andalou]]}} (''An Andalusian Dog''). His main contribution was to help Buñuel write the script for the film. Dalí later claimed to have also played a significant role in the filming of the project, but this is not substantiated by contemporary accounts.<ref>{{cite web |last=Koller |first=Michael |url=http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/01/12/chien.html |language=fr |title=Un Chien Andalou |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225061923/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/01/12/chien.html |archive-date=25 December 2010 |work=Senses of Cinema |date=January 2001 |access-date=26 July 2006}}</ref> In August 1929, Dalí met his lifelong muse and future wife [[Gala Dalí|Gala]],<ref name=unbound>Shelley, Landry. [http://www.tcnj.edu/~unbound/spring2005/articles/a2 "Dalí Wows Crowd in Philadelphia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108082607/http://www.tcnj.edu/~unbound/spring2005/articles/a2 |date=8 November 2017 }}. ''Unbound'' ([[The College of New Jersey]]) Spring 2005. Retrieved on 22 July 2006.</ref> born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova. She was a Russian immigrant ten years his senior, who at that time was married to Surrealist poet [[Paul Éluard]].<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 218–20</ref>

In works such as ''[[The First Days of Spring]]'', ''[[The Great Masturbator]]'' and ''[[The Lugubrious Game]]'' Dalí continued his exploration of the themes of sexual anxiety and unconscious desires.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 206–08, 231–32</ref> Dalí's first Paris exhibition was at the recently opened Goemans Gallery in November 1929 and featured eleven works. In his preface to the catalog, [[André Breton]] described Dalí's new work as "the most hallucinatory that has been produced up to now".<ref name="Gibson, Ian 1997 p 237">Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 237</ref> The exhibition was a commercial success but the critical response was divided.<ref name="Gibson, Ian 1997 p 237"/> In the same year, Dalí officially joined the Surrealist group in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris. The Surrealists hailed what Dalí was later to call his [[paranoiac-critical method]] of accessing the subconscious for greater artistic creativity.<ref name="Llongueras" /><ref name="Rojas" />

Meanwhile, Dalí's relationship with his father was close to rupture. Don Salvador Dalí y Cusi strongly disapproved of his son's romance with Gala and saw his connection to the Surrealists as a bad influence on his morals. The final straw was when Don Salvador read in a Barcelona newspaper that his son had recently exhibited in Paris a drawing of the ''Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ'', with a provocative inscription: "Sometimes, I spit for fun on my mother's portrait".<ref name="Meisler" /><ref name="isbn0-571-19380-3" /> Outraged, Don Salvador demanded that his son recant publicly. Dalí refused, perhaps out of fear of expulsion from the Surrealist group, and was violently thrown out of his paternal home on 28 December 1929. His father told him that he would be disinherited and that he should never set foot in Cadaqués again. The following summer, Dalí and Gala rented a small fisherman's cabin in a nearby bay at [[Port Lligat]]. He soon bought the cabin, and over the years enlarged it by buying neighboring ones, gradually building his beloved villa by the sea. Dalí's father would eventually relent and come to accept his son's companion.<ref name="GalaGSDF">{{cite web|title=Gala Biography|url=http://www.salvador-dali.org/dali/en_biografia-gala.html|work=Dalí|publisher=Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626181620/http://www.salvador-dali.org/dali/en_biografia-gala.html|archive-date=26 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1931, Dalí painted one of his most famous works, ''[[The Persistence of Memory]]'',<ref>[http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/education/documents/clocking_in.pdf Clocking in with Salvador Dalí: Salvador Dalí's Melting Watches] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060921144258/http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/education/documents/clocking_in.pdf |date=21 September 2006 }} (PDF) from the Salvador Dalí Museum. Retrieved on 19 August 2006.</ref> which developed a surrealistic image of soft, melting pocket watches. The general interpretation of the work is that the soft watches are a rejection of the assumption that time is rigid or deterministic. This idea is supported by other images in the work, such as the wide expanding landscape, and other limp watches shown being devoured by ants.<ref name=Conquete>Salvador Dalí, {{lang|fr|La Conquête de l'irrationnel}} (Paris: Éditions surréalistes, 1935), p. 25.</ref>

Dalí had two important exhibitions at the Pierre Colle Gallery in Paris in June 1931 and May–June 1932. The earlier exhibition included sixteen paintings of which ''The Persistence of Memory'' attracted the most attention. Some of the notable features of the exhibitions were the proliferation of images and references to Dalí's muse Gala and the inclusion of Surrealist Objects such as ''Hypnagogic Clock'' and ''Clock Based on the Decomposition of Bodies''.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 279–283, 299–300</ref> Dalí's last, and largest, the exhibition at the Pierre Colle Gallery was held in June 1933 and included twenty-two paintings, ten drawings, and two objects. One critic noted Dalí's precise draftsmanship and attention to detail, describing him as a "paranoiac of geometrical temperament".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 314–15</ref> Dalí's first New York exhibition was held at [[Julien Levy]]'s gallery in November–December 1933. The exhibition featured twenty-six works and was a commercial and critical success. The ''New Yorker'' critic praised the precision and lack of sentimentality in the works, calling them "frozen nightmares".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 316</ref>

Dalí and Gala, having lived together since 1929, were civilly married on 30 January 1934 in Paris.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 323</ref> They later remarried in a Church ceremony on 8 August 1958 at Sant Martí Vell.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 492</ref> In addition to inspiring many artworks throughout her life, Gala would act as Dalí's business manager, supporting their extravagant lifestyle while adeptly steering clear of insolvency. Gala, who herself engaged in extra-marital affairs,<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 421–22, 508–10, 620–21</ref> seemed to tolerate Dalí's dalliances with younger muses, secure in her own position as his primary relationship. Dalí continued to paint her as they both aged, producing sympathetic and adoring images of her. The "tense, complex and ambiguous relationship" lasting over 50 years would later become the subject of an opera, ''Jo, Dalí'' (''I, Dalí'') by Catalan composer Xavier Benguerel.<ref name="Opera">{{cite web|last=Amengual|first=Margalida|title=An opera on the relationship between Salvador Dalí and Gala arrives at Barcelona's Liceu|url=http://www.catalannewsagency.com/culture/item/an-opera-on-the-relationship-between-salvador-dali-and-gala-arrives-at-barcelonas-liceu|work=Catalan News Agency (CNA)|publisher=Intracatalònia, SA|access-date=27 May 2012|date=14 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220175608/http://www.catalannewsagency.com/culture/item/an-opera-on-the-relationship-between-salvador-dali-and-gala-arrives-at-barcelonas-liceu|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Man Ray Salvador Dali.jpg|thumb|left|Dalí (left) and fellow [[surrealism|surrealist]] artist [[Man Ray]] in Paris on 16 June 1934]]
Dalí's first visit to the United States in November 1934 attracted widespread press coverage. His second New York exhibition was held at the Julien Levy Gallery in November–December 1934 and was again a commercial and critical success. Dalí delivered three lectures on Surrealism at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] (MoMA) and other venues during which he told his audience for the first time that "[t]he only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 336–41</ref> The heiress [[Caresse Crosby]], the inventor of the brassiere, organized a farewell fancy dress ball for Dalí on 18 January 1935. Dalí wore a glass case on his chest containing a brassiere and Gala dressed as a woman giving birth through her head. A Paris newspaper later claimed that the Dalís had dressed as the [[Lindbergh baby]] and his [[Bruno Hauptmann|kidnapper]], a claim which Dalí denied.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 342–43</ref>
[[File:Portrait_of_Salvador_Dali,_Paris,_LOC_4483943847.jpg|thumb|Dalí, Paris, 16 June 1934]]
While the majority of the Surrealist group had become increasingly associated with leftist politics, Dalí maintained an ambiguous position on the subject of the proper relationship between politics and art. Leading Surrealist [[André Breton]] accused Dalí of defending the "new" and "irrational" in "the [[Hitler]] phenomenon", but Dalí quickly rejected this claim, saying, "I am Hitlerian neither in fact nor intention".<ref>Greeley, Robin Adèle (2006). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=2w1QddhP56wC Surrealism and the Spanish Civil War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419062109/https://books.google.com/books?id=2w1QddhP56wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 |date=19 April 2016 }}'', Yale University Press. p. 81. {{ISBN|0-300-11295-5}}.</ref> Dalí insisted that Surrealism could exist in an apolitical context and refused to explicitly denounce fascism.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MORRDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT62|title=The Creative Underground : Art, Politics and Everyday Life|last=Clements|first=Paul|publisher=Taylor and Francis|year=2016|isbn=978-1-317-50128-2|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206234545/https://books.google.com/books?id=MORRDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT62|url-status=live}}</ref> Later in 1934, Dalí was subjected to a "trial", in which he narrowly avoided being expelled from the Surrealist group.<ref>Shanes, Eric (2012). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=eDQqcrMy8M8C&pg=PA53 The Life and Masterworks of Salvador Dalí] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209185600/https://books.google.com/books?id=eDQqcrMy8M8C&pg=PA53 |date=9 February 2020 }}''. Parkstone. p. 53. {{ISBN|1-78042-879-0}}.</ref> To this, Dalí retorted, "The difference between the Surrealists and me is that I am a Surrealist."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vYcGAAAAMAAJ Salvador Dalí, Louis Pauwels, ''Les passions Selon Dalí''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917144729/https://books.google.es/books?id=vYcGAAAAMAAJ |date=17 September 2018 }}, Denoël, 1968</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ub6fAAAAMAAJ Pierre Ajame, ''La Double vie de Salvador Dalí: récit''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917143252/https://books.google.es/books?id=ub6fAAAAMAAJ |date=17 September 2018 }}, Éditions Ramsay, 1984, p. 125</ref>

[[File:Dali Harcourt 1936.jpg|thumb|upright|Dalí, photographed by [[Studio Harcourt]] in 1936]]
In 1936, Dalí took part in the ''[[London International Surrealist Exhibition]]''. His lecture, titled {{lang|fr|Fantômes paranoiacs authentiques}}, was delivered while wearing a deep-sea diving suit and helmet.<ref>Jackaman, Rob. (1989) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=DV9_6DAOSscC The Course of English Surrealist Poetry Since the 1930s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419054822/https://books.google.com/books?id=DV9_6DAOSscC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 |date=19 April 2016 }}'', [[Lewiston, New York]]: [[Edwin Mellen Press]]. {{ISBN|0-88946-932-6}}.</ref> He had arrived carrying a billiard cue and leading a pair of Russian wolfhounds and had to have the helmet unscrewed as he gasped for breath. He commented that "I just wanted to show that I was 'plunging deeply into the human mind."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 359–60</ref>

Dalí's first solo London exhibition was held at the Alex, Reid, and Lefevre Gallery the same year. The show included twenty-nine paintings and eighteen drawings. The critical response was generally favorable, although the Daily Telegraph critic wrote: "These pictures from the subconscious reveal so skilled a craftsman that the artist's return to full consciousness may be awaited with interest."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 358–59</ref>

In December 1936, Dalí participated in the ''Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism'' exhibition at MoMA and a solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. Both exhibitions attracted large attendances and widespread press coverage. The painting ''[[Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)]]'' (1936) attracted particular attention. Dalí later described it as, "a vast human body breaking out into monstrous excrescences of arms and legs tearing at one another in a delirium of auto-strangulation".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997). pp. 334, 364–67</ref> On 14 December, Dalí, aged 32, was featured on the cover of ''[[Time magazine|Time]]'' magazine.<ref name="Meisler" />

From 1933, Dalí was supported by Zodiac, a group of affluent admirers who each contributed to a monthly stipend for the painter in exchange for a painting of their choice.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 306–308</ref> From 1936 Dalí's main patron in London was the wealthy [[Edward James]] who would support him financially for two years. One of Dalí's most important paintings from the period of James' patronage was ''[[Metamorphosis of Narcissus|The Metamorphosis of Narcissus]]'' (1937). They also collaborated on two of the most enduring icons of the Surrealist movement: the ''[[Lobster Telephone]]'' and the ''[[Mae West Lips Sofa]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?IRN=2607|title=Salvador Dalí Lobster Telephone|date=August 1994|website=National Gallery of Australia|access-date=23 June 2017|archive-date=19 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319005929/http://nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?IRN=2607|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dalí was in London when the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out in July 1936.  When he later learned that his friend Lorca had been executed by [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] forces, Dalí's claimed response was to shout: "Olé!" Dalí was to include frequent references to the poet in his art and writings for the remainder of his life.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 361–63</ref> Nevertheless, Dalí avoided taking a public stand for or against the [[the Second Spanish Republic|Republic]] for the duration of the conflict.<ref name=":4">Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 376–77, and ''passim''</ref>

In January 1938, Dalí unveiled ''[[Rainy Taxi]]'', a three-dimensional artwork consisting of an automobile and two mannequin occupants being soaked with rain from within the taxi. The piece was first displayed at the Galerie Beaux-Arts in Paris at the ''[[Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme]]'', organized by [[André Breton]] and [[Paul Éluard]]. The Exposition was designed by artist [[Marcel Duchamp]], who also served as host.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salvador-dali.org/dali/en_biografia.html|title=Salvador Dalí's Biography – Gala|work=salvador-dali.org|publisher=Salvador Dalí Foundation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106020704/http://www.salvador-dali.org/dali/en_biografia.html|archive-date=6 November 2006|access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Herbert|first1=James D.|url=https://archive.org/details/paris1937worldso00herb|title=Paris 1937|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-8014-3494-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/paris1937worldso00herb/page/27 27]|access-date=14 February 2015|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cohen-Solal|first1=Annie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDJL4MwVK10C&pg=PA130|title=Leo and His Circle|year=2010|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=978-1-4000-4427-6|access-date=14 February 2015|archive-date=13 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213193246/http://books.google.com/books?id=nDJL4MwVK10C&pg=PA130|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March that year, Dalí met [[Sigmund Freud]] thanks to [[Stefan Zweig]]. As Dalí sketched Freud's portrait, Freud whispered, "That boy looks like a fanatic." Dalí was delighted upon hearing later about this comment from his hero.<ref name="Meisler" /> The following day Freud wrote to Zweig, "until now I have been inclined to regard the Surrealists, who have apparently adopted me as their patron saint, as complete fools. ... That young Spaniard, with his candid fanatical eyes and his undeniable technical mastery, has changed my estimate. It would indeed be very interesting to investigate analytically how he came to create that picture [i.e. ''Metamorphosis of Narcissus'']."<ref name="Rubin (1968) ">Rubin, William S. 1968. ''Dada and Surrealist Art.'' Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York. 525 pp.</ref>

In September 1938, Salvador Dalí was invited by [[Coco Chanel|Gabrielle Coco Chanel]] to her house "La Pausa" in Roquebrune on the French Riviera. There he painted numerous paintings he later exhibited at Julien Levy Gallery in New York.<ref>''Salvador Dalí Exhibition'', Exhibition Catalogue – 16 February through 15 May 2005</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://philadelphia.about.com/od/salvador_dali/a/salvador_dali_a.htm |title=Salvador Dalí Exhibition |work=[[Philadelphia Museum of Art]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075359/http://philadelphia.about.com/od/salvador_dali/a/salvador_dali_a.htm |archive-date=7 July 2011 |access-date=12 May 2014 |last=Fischer |first=John}}</ref> This exhibition in March–April 1939 included twenty-one paintings and eleven drawings. [[Life (magazine)|Life]] reported that no exhibition in New York had been so popular since Whistler's ''Mother'' was shown in 1934.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 389–90</ref>

At the [[1939 New York World's Fair]], Dalí debuted his ''Dream of Venus'' Surrealist pavilion, located in the Amusements Area of the exposition. It featured bizarre sculptures, statues, mermaids, and live nude models in "costumes" made of fresh seafood, an event photographed by Horst P. Horst, George Platt Lynes, and Murray Korman.<ref name="DrmVns"/> Dalí was angered by changes to his designs, railing against mediocrities who thought that "a woman with the tail of a fish is possible; a woman with the head of a fish impossible."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 391–92</ref>

Soon after [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s victory in the Spanish Civil War in April 1939, Dalí wrote to Luis Buñuel denouncing socialism and Marxism and praising Catholicism and the [[Falange Española de las JONS|Falange]]. As a result, Buñuel broke off relations with Dalí.<ref name=":5">Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 395</ref>

In the May issue of the Surrealist magazine ''Minotaure'', André Breton announced Dalí's expulsion from the Surrealist group, claiming that Dalí had espoused race war and that the over-refinement of his [[paranoiac-critical method]] was a repudiation of Surrealist [[Surrealist automatism|automatism.]] This led many Surrealists to break off relations with Dalí.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 387, 396–97</ref> In 1949 Breton coined the derogatory nickname "Avida Dollars" (avid for dollars), an anagram for "Salvador Dalí".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 453</ref> This was a derisive reference to the increasing commercialization of Dalí's work, and the perception that Dalí sought self-aggrandizement through fame and fortune.

=== World War II ===
The outbreak of [[World War II]] in September 1939 saw the Dalís in France. Following the German invasion, they were able to escape because on 20 June 1940 they were issued visas by [[Aristides de Sousa Mendes]], Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, France. They crossed into Portugal and subsequently sailed on the ''Excambion'' from Lisbon to New York in August 1940.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sousamendesfoundation.org/dali/ |title= Dalí |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102223907/http://sousamendesfoundation.org/dali/ |archive-date=2 November 2013 |work=Sousa Mendes Foundation |date=20 June 1940 |access-date=12 May 2014}}</ref>  Dalí and Gala were to live in the United States for eight years, splitting their time between New York and the [[Monterey Peninsula]], California.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/a-world-class-salvador-dali-art-collection-comes-to-monterey/article_b1267eae-db3d-11e5-9e95-3f5ae7bc3619.html|title=A world-class Salvador Dalí art collection comes to Monterey.|last=Schmalz|first=David|website=Monterey County Weekly|date=25 February 2016 |access-date=6 June 2016|archive-date=26 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826071520/http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/a-world-class-salvador-dali-art-collection-comes-to-monterey/article_b1267eae-db3d-11e5-9e95-3f5ae7bc3619.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":11">Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 411–12</ref>

Dalí spent the winter of 1940–41 at Hampton Manor, the residence of [[Caresse Crosby]], in Caroline County, Virginia, where he worked on various projects including his autobiography and paintings for his upcoming exhibition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virginialiving.com/%C2%A1hola,-dal%C3%AD!/ |title=¡Hola, Dalí! |last1=Crowder |first1=Bland |date=31 January 2014 |website=[[Virginia Living]] |publisher=Cape Fear Publishing |access-date=27 June 2016 |archive-date=1 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701234130/http://www.virginialiving.com/%C2%A1hola,-dal%C3%AD!/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 404–05</ref>

Dalí announced the death of the Surrealist movement and the return of classicism in his exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in April–May 1941. The exhibition included nineteen paintings (among them ''[[Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire]]'' and ''[[The Face of War]]'') and other works''.'' In his catalog essay and media comments, Dalí proclaimed a return to form, control, structure and the [[Golden Section]]. Sales however were disappointing and the majority of critics did not believe there had been a major change in Dalí's work.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 409–11</ref>

On 2 September 1941, he hosted ''A Surrealistic Night in an Enchanted Forest'' in Monterey, a charity event which attracted national attention but raised little money for charity.<ref>
{{cite web |author=Neal Hotelling |date=26 August 2022 |title=Call the sheriff, Dali's been robbed |url=http://pineconearchive.fileburstcdn.com/220826PC.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://pineconearchive.fileburstcdn.com/220826PC.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=26 August 2022 |work=[[Carmel Pine Cone]] |page=23 |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California}}</ref><ref name=":11" />

The Museum of Modern Art held two major, simultaneous retrospectives of Dalí<ref name="Soby (1941)">Soby, James Thrall. 1941. ''Salvador Dali: Paintings, Drawings, Prints.'' The Museum of Modern Art, New York. 87 pp.</ref> and [[Joan Miró]]<ref name="Sweeney (1941)">Sweeney, James Johnson. 1941. ''Joan Miro.'' The Museum of Modern Art, New York. 87 pp.</ref> from November 1941 to February 1942, Dalí being represented by forty-two paintings and sixteen drawings. Dalí's work attracted significant attention of critics and the exhibition later toured eight American cities, enhancing his reputation in America.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 413–16</ref>

In October 1942, Dalí's autobiography, ''[[The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí]]'' was published simultaneously in New York and London and was reviewed widely by the press. Time magazine's reviewer called it "one of the most irresistible books of the year".  George Orwell later wrote a scathing review in the ''Saturday Book''.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 416–20.</ref><ref name=orwell>Orwell, George [http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/by-orwell/essays-and-other-works/benefit-of-clergy-some-notes-on-salvador-dali/ "Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dalí"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421185848/http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/by-orwell/essays-and-other-works/benefit-of-clergy-some-notes-on-salvador-dali/ |date=21 April 2016 }}. theorwellprize.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2012.</ref> A passage in the autobiography in which Dalí claimed that Buñuel was solely responsible for the anti-clericalism in the film L'Age d'Or may have indirectly led to Buñuel resigning his position at MoMA in 1943 under pressure from the State Department.<ref>Luis Buñuel, ''My Last Sigh: The Autobiography of Luis Buñuel'' (Vintage, 1984) {{ISBN|0-8166-4387-3}}</ref><ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 419</ref> Dalí also published a novel ''Hidden Faces'' in 1944 with less critical and commercial success.<ref name=":10">Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 424–30</ref>

In the catalog essay for his exhibition at the Knoedler Gallery in New York in 1943, Dalí continued his attack on the Surrealist movement, writing: "Surrealism will at least have served to give experimental proof that total sterility and attempts at automatizations have gone too far and have led to a totalitarian system. ... Today's laziness and the total lack of technique have reached their paroxysm in the psychological signification of the current use of the college [<nowiki/>[[collage]]]".<ref name="Descharnes (1993) p. 35.">Descharnes, Robert and Nicolas. ''Salvador Dalí''. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1993. p. 35.</ref> The critical response to the society portraits in the exhibition, however, was generally negative.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 423</ref>

In November–December 1945 Dalí exhibited new work at the [[Bignou Gallery]] in New York. The exhibition included eleven oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and illustrations. Works included ''[[Basket of Bread]]'', ''Atomic and Uranian Melancholic Ideal'', and ''My Wife Nude Contemplating her own Body Transformed into Steps, the Three Vertebrae of a Column, Sky and Architecture''. The exhibition was notable for works in Dalí's new classicism style and those heralding his "atomic period".<ref>Gibson, (Ian) (1997), pp. 434–36</ref>

During the war years, Dalí was also engaged in projects in various other fields. He executed designs for a number of ballets including ''Labyrinth'' (1942), ''Sentimental Colloquy'', ''Mad Tristan'', and ''The Cafe of Chinitas'' (all 1944).<ref name=":1">Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 431–43</ref> In 1945 he created the dream sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's film ''Spellbound''.<ref name=":2">Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 434–45</ref> He also produced artwork and designs for products such as perfumes, cosmetics, hosiery and ties.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 430–31</ref>

=== Postwar in United States (1946–48) ===
In 1946, Dalí worked with Walt Disney and animator John Hench on an unfinished animated film ''[[Destino]]''.<ref name=":3">Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 436–38</ref>

Dalí exhibited new work at the Bignou Gallery from November 1947 to January 1948. The 14 oil paintings and other works in the exhibition reflected Dalí's increasing interest in atomic physics. Notable works included ''Dematerialization Near the Nose of Nero (The Separation of the Atom)'', ''Intra-Atomic Equilibrium of a Swan's Feather'', and a study for ''[[Leda Atomica]]''. The proportions of the latter work were worked out in collaboration with a mathematician.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 440–42</ref>

In early 1948, Dalí's ''50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship'' was published. The book was a mixture of anecdotes, practical advice on painting, and Dalínian polemics.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 442–44</ref>

=== Later years in Spain ===
In 1948, Dalí and Gala moved back into their house in Port Lligat, on the coast near [[Cadaqués]]. For the next three decades, they would spend most of their time there, spending winters in Paris and New York.<ref name="Meisler" /><ref name="GalaGSDF" /> Dalí's decision to live in Spain under Franco and his public support for the regime prompted outrage from many anti-Francoist artists and intellectuals. Pablo Picasso refused to mention Dalí's name or acknowledge his existence for the rest of his life.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 470</ref> In 1960, André Breton unsuccessfully fought against the inclusion of Dalí's ''Sistine Madonna'' in the ''Surrealist Intrusion in the Enchanter's Domain'' exhibition organized by Marcel Duchamp in New York.<ref name="lopez">{{Interlanguage link multi|Ignacio Javier López|es|Ignacio Javier López}}. ''The Old Age of William Tell (A study of Buñuel's ''Tristana'')''. ''[[Modern Language Notes|MLN]]'' 116 (2001): 295–314.</ref>  Breton and other Surrealists issued a tract to coincide with the exhibition denouncing Dalí as "the ex-apologist of Hitler ... and friend of Franco".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 497–98</ref>

In December 1949, Dalí's sister Anna Maria published her book ''Salvador Dalí Seen by his Sister''. Dalí was angered by passages that he considered derogatory towards his wife Gala and broke off relations with his family. When Dalí's father died in September 1950, Dalí learned that he had been virtually disinherited in his will. A two-year legal dispute followed over paintings and drawings Dalí had left in his family home, during which Dalí was accused of assaulting a public notary.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 454–61</ref>

[[File:The_Hallucinogenic_Toreador.png|thumb|300 px|''The Hallucinogenic Toreador'' (1968–1970); oil on canvas, 398.8 cm × 299.7 cm, [[Salvador Dalí Museum]]]]

As Dalí moved further towards embracing [[Catholicism]] he introduced more religious iconography and themes in his painting. In 1949, he painted a study for ''[[The Madonna of Port Lligat]]'' (first version, 1949) and showed it to [[Pope Pius XII]] during an audience arranged to discuss Dalí 's marriage to Gala.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 450–53</ref> This work was a precursor to the phase Dalí dubbed "Nuclear Mysticism", a fusion of Einsteinian physics, classicism, and Catholic mysticism. In paintings such as ''[[The Madonna of Port Lligat]]'', ''[[Christ of Saint John of the Cross|The Christ of Saint John on the Cross]]'' and ''[[The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory]]'', Dalí sought to synthesize Christian iconography with images of material disintegration inspired by nuclear physics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arton5th.com/Dali/bio.html|title=Salvador Dalí Bio, Art on 5th|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504050531/http://www.arton5th.com/Dali/bio.html|archive-date=4 May 2006|access-date=22 July 2006}}</ref><ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 461–63</ref> His later Nuclear Mysticism works included ''[[La Gare de Perpignan]]'' (1965) and ''[[The Hallucinogenic Toreador]]'' (1968–70).

Dalí's keen interest in natural science and mathematics was further manifested by the proliferation of images of DNA and [[rhinoceros horn]] shapes in works from the mid-1950s. According to Dalí, the rhinoceros horn signifies divine geometry because it grows in a logarithmic spiral.<ref name=":6">Elliott H. King in [[Dawn Ades]] (ed.), ''Dalí'', Bompiani Arte, Milan, 2004, p. 456.</ref> Dalí was also fascinated by the [[Tesseract]] (a four-dimensional cube), using it, for example, in ''[[Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)]]''.

Dalí had been extensively using optical illusions such as double images, [[anamorphosis]], [[negative space]], [[visual pun]]s and ''[[trompe-l'œil]]'' since his Surrealist period and this continued in his later work. At some point, Dalí had a glass floor installed in a room near his studio in Port Lligat. He made extensive use of it to study foreshortening, both from above and from below, incorporating dramatic perspectives of figures and objects into his paintings.<ref name="AdesOptical" />{{rp|17–18, 172}} He also experimented with the [[bulletism|bulletist]] technique<ref name="bp">{{cite web|url=http://www.bonjourparis.com/Articles/Museums_and_Sights/The_Phantasmagoric_Universe_%E2%80%94_Espace_Dal%C3%AD_%C3%80_Montmartre/|title=The Phantasmagoric Universe&nbsp;– Espace Dalí À Montmartre|work=Bonjour Paris|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528084739/http://www.bonjourparis.com/Articles/Museums_and_Sights/The_Phantasmagoric_Universe_%E2%80%94_Espace_Dal%C3%AD_%C3%80_Montmartre/|archive-date=28 May 2006|url-status=dead|access-date=22 August 2006}}</ref> [[pointillism]], enlarged [[half-tone]] dot grids and stereoscopic images.<ref name="AdesOptical">{{cite book|editor-last=Ades|editor-first=Dawn|title=Dalí's optical illusions : [Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, January 21 – March 26, 2000 : Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, April 19 – June 18, 2000; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, July 25 – October 1, 2000]|year=2000|publisher=Yale Univ. Press|location=New Haven, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-300-08177-0}}</ref> He was among the first artists to employ [[holography]] in an artistic manner.<ref name="holo">[http://www.holophile.com/history.htm The History and Development of Holography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712214057/http://www.holophile.com/history.htm |date=12 July 2011 }}. ''Holophile''. Retrieved on 22 August 2006.</ref> In Dalí's later years, young artists such as [[Andy Warhol]] proclaimed him an important influence on [[pop art]].<ref name="warhol">{{cite web |url=http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmag/bk_issue/1998/mayjun/feat2.htm |title=Hello, Dalí |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927105155/http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmag/bk_issue/1998/mayjun/feat2.htm |archive-date=27 September 2006 |work=Carnegie Magazine |access-date=22 August 2006}}</ref>

In 1960, Dalí began work on his [[Dalí Theatre and Museum|Theatre-Museum]] in his home town of [[Figueres]]. It was his largest single project and a main focus of his energy through to 1974, when it opened. He continued to make additions through the mid-1980s.<ref name="Pitxot">{{cite book|last=Pitxot|first=Antoni | author-link = Antoni Pitxot|title=The Dalí Theatre-Museum|date=2007|publisher=Triangle Postals|location=Sant Lluís, Menorca|isbn=978-84-8478-288-9|author2=Montse Aguer Teixidor  |author3=photography, Jordi Puig |author4= translation, Steve Cedar }}</ref><ref name="FGSD">{{cite web|url=http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/figueres/en_historia.html|title=Figueres: Teatre Museu Dalí – History|year=2010|publisher=Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí|access-date=20 June 2010|archive-date=3 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403010843/http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/figueres/en_historia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1955, Dalí met Nanita Kalaschnikoff, who was to become a close friend, muse, and model.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 483–97</ref> At a French nightclub in 1965 Dalí met [[Amanda Lear]], a fashion model then known as Peki Oslo. Lear became his protégée and one of his muses.  According to Lear, she and Dalí were united in a "spiritual marriage" on a deserted mountaintop.<ref name="Prose">Prose, Francine. (2000) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0rJ2EPVYbFUC The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists they Inspired] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418233621/https://books.google.com/books?id=0rJ2EPVYbFUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 |date=18 April 2016 }}''. Harper Perennial. {{ISBN|0-06-055525-4}}.</ref><ref name="Lear">Lear, Amanda. (1986) ''My Life with Dalí''. Beaufort Books. {{ISBN|0-8253-0373-7}}.</ref>

=== Final years and death ===
[[File:Dali Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Dalí by [[Allan Warren]], 1972]]
[[File:20061227-Figueres Sant Pere MQ.jpg|thumb|Church of ''Sant Pere'' in [[Figueres]], site of Dalí's baptism, first communion, and funeral]]
[[File:Salvador Dali Crypt in Figueres.jpg|thumb|Dalí's crypt at the [[Dalí Theatre and Museum|Dalí Theatre-Museum]] in [[Figueres]] displays his name and title.]]

In 1968, Dalí bought a castle in Púbol for Gala, and from 1971 she would retreat there for weeks at a time, Dalí having agreed not to visit without her written permission.<ref name="GalaGSDF" /> His fears of abandonment and estrangement from his longtime artistic muse contributed to depression and failing health.<ref name="Meisler" />

In 1980, at age 76, Dalí's health deteriorated sharply and he was treated for depression, drug addiction, and Parkinson-like symptoms, including a severe tremor in his right arm. There were also allegations that Gala had been supplying Dalí with pharmaceuticals from her own prescriptions.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 574–79</ref>

Gala died on 10 June 1982, at the age of 87. After her death, Dalí moved from Figueres to the castle in Púbol, where she was entombed.<ref name="Meisler" /><ref name="GalaGSDF" /><ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 589–91</ref>

In 1982, [[Juan Carlos I of Spain|King Juan Carlos]] bestowed on Dalí the title of ''Marqués de Dalí de Púbol''<ref name="Marquess title">[http://www.heraldaria.com/phorum/read.php?f=1&i=25695&t=25695 Excerpts from the BOE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105053225/http://www.heraldaria.com/phorum/read.php?f=1&i=25695&t=25695 |date=5 January 2012 }} – Website Heráldica y Genealogía Hispana</ref><ref name=":7">[http://www.boe.es/aeboe/consultas/bases_datos/doc.php?id=BOE-A-1989-4234 Dalí as "Marqués de Dalí de Púbol"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120630120254/http://www.boe.es/aeboe/consultas/bases_datos/doc.php?id=BOE-A-1989-4234 |date=30 June 2012 }} – Boletín Oficial del Estado, the official gazette of the Spanish government</ref> (''Marquess of Dalí of Púbol'') in the nobility of Spain, [[Púbol]] being where Dalí then lived. The title was initially hereditary, but at Dalí's request was changed to life-only in 1983.<ref name="Marquess title" />

In May 1983, what was said to be Dalí's last painting, ''[[The Swallow's Tail]]'', was revealed. The work was heavily influenced by the mathematical [[catastrophe theory]] of [[René Thom]]. However, some critics have questioned how Dalí could have executed a painting with such precision given the severe tremor in his painting arm.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 603–604</ref>

From early 1984, Dalí's depression worsened and he refused food, leading to severe undernourishment.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 602, 610</ref> Dalí had previously stated his intention to put himself into a state of suspended animation as he had read that some microorganisms could do.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/dali-6-12.html|title=Salvador Dalí – Paths to Immortality|website=History of Art|access-date=23 June 2017|archive-date=31 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731220713/http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/dali-6-12.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 1984 a fire broke out in Dalí's bedroom and he was hospitalized with severe burns. Two judicial inquiries found that the fire was caused by an electrical fault and no findings of negligence were made.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 604–10</ref> After his release from hospital Dalí moved to the Torre Galatea, an annex to the Dalí Theatre-Museum.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 610</ref>

There have been allegations that Dalí was forced by his guardians to sign blank canvases that could later be used in forgeries.<ref name="scandal">{{cite book | title=The Dalí Scandal: An Investigation | author=Mark Rogerson | isbn=978-0-575-03786-1 | publisher=Victor Gollancz | year=1989 | url=https://archive.org/details/daliscandalinv00roge }}</ref> It is also alleged that he knowingly sold otherwise-blank lithograph paper which he had signed, possibly producing over 50,000 such sheets from 1965 until his death.<ref name="Meisler" /> As a result, art dealers tend to be wary of late graphic works attributed to Dalí.<ref name="Forde_170"/>

In July 1986, Dalí had a pacemaker implanted. On his return to his Theatre-Museum he made a brief public appearance, saying:

{{blockquote|When you are a genius, you do not have the right to die, because we are necessary for the progress of humanity.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://somatemps.me/2017/03/26/video-ultima-entrevista-a-dali-viva-el-rey-viva-espana-viva-cataluna/| title = Somatemps Catalanitat és Hispanitat, ''Última entrevista a Dalí: "¡Viva el Rey, viva España, viva Cataluña!"'' (video), published 26 March 2017| date = 26 March 2017| access-date = 22 July 2017| archive-date = 9 July 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170709151952/https://somatemps.me/2017/03/26/video-ultima-entrevista-a-dali-viva-el-rey-viva-espana-viva-cataluna/| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://elpais.com/diario/1986/07/17/cultura/521935202_850215.html| title = El País, ''Dalí vuelve a casa'', 17 July 1986| newspaper = El País| date = 16 July 1986| access-date = 22 July 2017| archive-date = 14 September 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170914172118/https://elpais.com/diario/1986/07/17/cultura/521935202_850215.html| url-status = live| language=es}}</ref>}}

In November 1988, Dalí entered hospital with heart failure. On 5 December 1988, he was visited by King Juan Carlos, who confessed that he had always been a serious devotee of Dalí.<ref>[[Meredith Etherington-Smith|Etherington-Smith, Meredith]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=soncxLrkYX0C The Persistence of Memory: A Biography of Dalí] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419054622/https://books.google.com/books?id=soncxLrkYX0C&dq |date=19 April 2016 }} p. 411, 1995 Da Capo Press, {{ISBN|0-306-80662-2}}</ref> Dalí gave the king a drawing, ''Head of Europa'', which would turn out to be Dalí's final drawing.

On the morning of 23 January 1989, Dalí died of cardiac arrest at the age of 84.<ref name="Artner">{{cite news |last1=Artner |first1=Alan G. |title=Surrealist painter Salvador Dali, flamboyant art revolutionary |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1015353001 |access-date=9 May 2022 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=24 January 1989 |page=9|id={{ProQuest|1015353001}} }}</ref> He is buried in the crypt below the stage of his [[Dalí Theatre and Museum|Theatre-Museum]] in Figueres. The location is across the street from the church of ''Sant Pere'', where he had his baptism, first communion, and funeral, and is only {{convert|450|m|ft}} from the house where he was born.<ref>[[Meredith Etherington-Smith|Etherington-Smith, Meredith]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=soncxLrkYX0C ''The Persistence of Memory: A Biography of Dalí'']{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, pp. xxiv, 411–12, 1995, Da Capo Press, {{ISBN|0-306-80662-2}}</ref>

==== Exhumation ====
On 26 June 2017, it was announced that a judge in Madrid had ordered the exhumation of Dalí's body in order to obtain samples for a paternity suit.<ref>{{Cite news |title=La exhumación del cuerpo de Salvador Dalí se inicia hoy a partir de las 20 horas |url=http://www.marca.com/tiramillas/actualidad/2017/07/20/59706333ca474183398b4636.html |date=20 July 2017 |access-date=20 July 2017 |newspaper=[[Marca (newspaper)|Marca]] |language=es |archive-date=20 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720151240/http://www.marca.com/tiramillas/actualidad/2017/07/20/59706333ca474183398b4636.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Joan Manuel Sevillano, manager of the ''Fundación Gala Salvador Dalí'' (The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation), denounced the exhumation as inappropriate.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Grael|first=Vanessa|url=http://www.elmundo.es/catalunya/2017/07/21/5971a29b22601d47788b45e0.html|title=La fundación Gala Salvador Dalí carga contra la exhumación del pintor: "Queremos una compensación patrimonial"|date=21 July 2017|newspaper=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]|access-date=21 July 2017|location=Figueres|language=es}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The exhumation took place on the evening of 20 July, and his DNA was extracted.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Redacción |title=Muelas, uñas y huesos: las pruebas que demostrarán la supuesta paternidad de Dalí |url=http://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20170720/424249280386/exhumacion-paternidad-salvador-dali-hija.html |date=20 July 2017 |access-date=20 July 2017 |newspaper=[[La Vanguardia]] |language=es |archive-date=20 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720022816/http://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20170720/424249280386/exhumacion-paternidad-salvador-dali-hija.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  On 6 September 2017, the Foundation stated that the tests carried out proved conclusively that Dalí and the claimant were not related.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41180146 "Salvador Dalí: DNA test proves woman is not his daughter"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616172344/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41180146 |date=16 June 2018 }}, BBC News.</ref><ref name="Josep">{{Cite news |last=Josep |first=Fita |title=El bigote de Dalí sigue intacto, marcando las 10 y 10, es un milagro |url=http://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20170721/424276137999/salvador-dali-pelo-unas-dos-huesos-largos-exhumación.html |date=21 July 2017 |access-date=21 July 2017 |newspaper=[[La Vanguardia]] |location=Barcelona |language=es |archive-date=10 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110213611/https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20170721/424276137999/salvador-dali-pelo-unas-dos-huesos-largos-exhumaci%C3%B3n.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 18 May 2020, a Spanish court dismissed an appeal from the claimant and ordered her to pay the costs of the exhumation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Court dismisses appeal from woman claiming to be Salvador Daíi's daughter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/may/19/court-dismisses-appeal-from-woman-claiming-to-be-salvador-dalis-daughter|date=19 May 2020|website=The Guardian|access-date=20 May 2020|archive-date=20 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520003654/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/may/19/court-dismisses-appeal-from-woman-claiming-to-be-salvador-dalis-daughter|url-status=live}}</ref>