Editing Salvador Dalí (section)

== Politics and personality ==
=== Politics and religion ===
[[File:Salvador Dalí with Francisco Franco and Carmen Polo 1970.jpg|thumb|Dalí welcomes Spanish dictator [[Francisco Franco]] and his wife [[Carmen Polo]] during their official visit to [[Peralada]], June 1970]]
As a youth, Dalí identified as communist, anti-monarchist and anti-clerical,<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 64–67, 83–84</ref> and in 1924 he was briefly imprisoned by the [[Miguel Primo de Rivera|Primo de Rivera dictatorship]] as a person "intensely liable to cause public disorder".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 113–14</ref> When Dalí officially joined the Surrealist group in 1929 his political activism initially intensified. In 1931, he became involved in the [[Workers and Peasants' Bloc|Workers' and Peasants' Front]], delivering lectures at meetings and contributing to their party journal.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 287–89</ref> However, as political divisions within the Surrealist group grew, Dalí soon developed a more apolitical stance, refusing to publicly denounce fascism. In 1934, [[André Breton]] accused him of being sympathetic to Hitler and Dalí narrowly avoided being expelled from the group.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 320–25</ref> In 1935 Dalí wrote a letter to Breton suggesting that non-white races should be enslaved.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/01/salvador-dali-wanted-enslave-non-white-races-create-new-sadistic/|title=Salvador Dali wanted to enslave non-white races and create new 'sadistic' religion, letter reveals|first=James|last=Badcock|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=1 September 2022|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>  After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Dalí avoided taking a public stand for or against the Republic.<ref name=":4" /> However, immediately after Franco's victory in 1939, Dalí praised Catholicism and the Falange and was expelled from the Surrealist group.<ref name=":5" />

After Dalí's return to his native Catalonia in 1948, he publicly supported Franco's regime and announced his return to the Catholic faith.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 448, 465–66</ref> Dalí was granted an audience with Pope Pius XII in 1949 and with [[Pope John XXIII]] in 1959. He had official meetings with General Franco in June 1956, October 1968, and May 1974.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 486, 543, 553</ref> In 1968, Dalí stated that on Franco's death there should be no return to democracy and Spain should become an absolute monarchy.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 525–27</ref> In September 1975, Dalí publicly supported Franco's decision to execute three alleged Basque terrorists and repeated his support for an absolute monarchy, adding: "Personally, I'm against freedom; I'm for the Holy Inquisition."  In the following days, he fled to New York after his home in Port Lligat was stoned and he had received numerous death threats.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 560–62</ref> When King Juan Carlos visited the ailing Dalí in August 1981, Dalí told him: "I have always been an anarchist and a monarchist."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 587</ref>

Dalí espoused a mystical view of Catholicism and in his later years he claimed to be a Catholic and an agnostic.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Descharnes, Gilles Néret|url=https://archive.org/details/salvadordali190400robe/page/166|title=Salvador Dalí, 1904–1989|publisher=Benedikt Taschen|year=1994|isbn=978-3-8228-0298-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/salvadordali190400robe/page/166 166]|quote=Dalí, dualist as ever in his approach, was now claiming to be both an agnostic and a Roman Catholic.}}</ref> He was interested in the writings of the Jesuit priest and philosopher [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin|Teilhard de Chardin]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=McNeese|first=Tim|title=Salvador Dalí|publisher=Chelsea House|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7910-8837-1|page=102}}</ref> and his [[Omega Point]] theory. Dalí's painting ''[[Tuna Fishing (painting)|Tuna Fishing (Homage to Meissonier)]]'' (1967) was inspired by his reading of Chardin.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 525</ref>

=== Sexuality ===
Dalí's sexuality had a profound influence on his work. He stated that as a child he saw a book with graphic illustrations of venereal diseases, and this provoked a life-long disgust of female genitalia and a fear of impotence and sexual intimacy. Dalí frequently stated that his main sexual activity involved [[voyeurism]] and masturbation and his preferred sexual orifice was the anus.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 71–74,166, 232, 280–81</ref> Dalí said that his wife Gala was the only person with whom he had achieved complete coitus.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 231</ref> From 1927, Dalí's work featured graphic and symbolic sexual images usually associated with other images evoking shame and disgust. Anal and fecal imagery is prominent in his work from this time. Some of the most notable works reflecting these themes include ''[[The First Days of Spring]]'' (1929), ''[[The Great Masturbator]]'' (1929), and ''[[The Lugubrious Game]]'' (1929). Several of Dalí's intimates in the 1960s and 1970s have stated that he would arrange for selected guests to perform choreographed sexual activities to aid his voyeurism and masturbation.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 534</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dali's surreal world of orgies and onanism: Dirty Dali: A Private View |url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/dalis-surreal-world-orgies-and-onanism-2462086 |website=The Scotsman |date=4 June 2007 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129112906/https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/dalis-surreal-world-orgies-and-onanism-2462086 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Sewell|first=Brian|date=1 January 2007|title=The Dalí I knew|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/exhibitions/the-dali-i-knew-6587130.html|journal=[[This Is London (website)|This is London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707184041/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/arts/article-23398918-details/The+Dali+I+knew/article.do|archive-date=7 July 2007}}</ref>

===Personality===
[[File:Salvador Dali NYWTS.jpg|thumb|upright|Dalí in the 1960s, sporting his characteristic flamboyant moustache, holding his pet ocelot, Babou]]
Dalí was renowned for his eccentric and ostentatious behavior throughout his career. In 1941, the Director of Exhibitions and Publications at MoMA wrote: "The fame of Salvador Dalí has been an issue of particular controversy for more than a decade. ... Dalí's conduct may have been undignified, but the greater part of his art is a matter of dead earnest."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 413–14</ref> When Dalí was elected to the [[Académie des Beaux-Arts|French Academy of Fine Arts]] in 1979, one of his fellow academicians stated that he hoped Dalí would now abandon his "clowneries".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 569</ref>

In 1936, at the premiere screening of [[Joseph Cornell]]'s film ''[[Rose Hobart (film)|Rose Hobart]]'' at Julien Levy's gallery in New York City, Dalí knocked over the projector in a rage. "My idea for a film is exactly that," he said shortly afterward, "I never wrote it down or told anyone, but it is as if he had stolen it!"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://andel.home.mindspring.com/cornell_notes.htm|title=Program Notes by Andy Ditzler (2005) and Deborah Solomon, ''Utopia Parkway: The Life of Joseph Cornell'' (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003)|publisher=Andel.home.mindspring.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050408200021/http://andel.home.mindspring.com/cornell_notes.htm|archive-date=8 April 2005|access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref> In 1939, after creating a window display for Bonwit Teller, he became so enraged by unauthorized changes to his work that he pushed a display bathtub through a plate glass window.<ref name="Meisler" /> In 1955, he delivered a lecture at the Sorbonne, arriving in a Rolls-Royce full of cauliflowers.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), p. 479</ref> To promote Robert Descharnes' 1962 book ''The World of Salvador Dalí'', he appeared in a Manhattan bookstore on a bed, wired up to a machine that traced his brain waves and blood pressure. He would autograph books while thus monitored, and the book buyer would also be given the paper chart recording.<ref name="Meisler" />

After World War II, Dalí became one of the most recognized artists in the world, and his long cape, walking stick, haughty expression, and upturned waxed mustache became icons of his brand. His boastfulness and public declarations of his genius became essential elements of the public Dalí persona: "every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure: that of being Salvador Dalí".<ref name="Smithsonian">[http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2005/april/dali.php?page=3 The Surreal World of Salvador Dalí] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303165950/http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2005/april/dali.php?page=3 |date=3 March 2007 }}. ''Smithsonian Magazine.'' 2005. Retrieved 31 August 2006.</ref>

Dalí frequently traveled with his pet [[ocelot]] [[Babou (ocelot)|Babou]], even bringing it aboard the luxury ocean liner SS ''France''.<ref name="NBCSSFrance">{{cite news |title=Retired cruise ship now asbestos battleground |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12702721 |access-date=7 May 2022 |work=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

Dalí's fame meant he was a frequent guest on television in Spain, France and the United States, including appearances on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' on 7 January 1963,<ref>[Cite https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1529195/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231194056/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1529195/ |date=31 December 2021 }}] on which he created a work of art out of his own name,</ref> ''[[The Mike Wallace Interview]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/dali_salvador.html|title=Mike Wallace Interviews Salvador Dalí|work=The Mike Wallace Interview|access-date=5 April 2020|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203083758/http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/dali_salvador.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the panel show ''[[What's My Line?]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.retronaut.co/2011/07/whats-my-line-featuring-salvador-dali/ |title=Dalí on Whats my Line |work=retronaut.co |access-date=14 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602185039/http://www.retronaut.co/2011/07/whats-my-line-featuring-salvador-dali/ |archive-date=2 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/art-television_n_7156450.html|title=The Early Days Of Television Were Way More Avant-Garde Than You Give Them Credit For|first=Priscilla|last=Frank|date=29 April 2015|access-date=26 June 2017|newspaper=Huffington Post|archive-date=4 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904132937/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/art-television_n_7156450.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Dalí appeared on ''The Dick Cavett Show'' on 6 March 1970 carrying an anteater.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CmM19jBdrI| title = Salvador Dalí on the Dick Cavett Show, Youtube| website = YouTube| date = 10 May 2016| access-date = 20 November 2017| archive-date = 28 January 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170128132312/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CmM19jBdrI&app=desktop| url-status = live}}</ref> He also appeared in numerous advertising campaigns such as {{illm|Lanvin (chocolate)|lt=Lanvin|fr|Lanvin (chocolat)}} chocolates<ref name="Augustin">[http://ehotelier.com/browse/news_item.php?id=P12135 Salvador Dalí at Le Meurice Paris and St Regis in New York] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011211226/http://ehotelier.com/browse/news_item.php?id=P12135 |date=11 October 2007 }} Andreas Augustin, ehotelier.com, 2007</ref><ref>{{youTube|O0Zc1heZlwc|Salvador Dali – Chocolat Lanvin $}}</ref> and Braniff International Airlines in 1968.<ref name="Namath">''Namath: A Biography'', [[Mark Kriegel]] [[iarchive:namath00mark/page/290|p. 290]]</ref>