Παιδί-Ακρίδα

November – December 1933

First New York show: “frozen nightmares”

Dalí's first New York exhibition, twenty-six works at Julien Levy's gallery, was a commercial and critical success. The New Yorker's critic praised their precision and lack of sentimentality, calling them “frozen nightmares”.

1934

The Surrealists' “trial”: “I am a Surrealist”

Breton accused Dalí of defending the “new” and “irrational” in “the Hitler phenomenon”; Dalí replied that he was “Hitlerian neither in fact nor intention” but refused to denounce fascism explicitly. At a group “trial” he narrowly avoided expulsion, retorting: “The difference between the Surrealists and me is that I am a Surrealist.”

30 January 1934

Civil marriage to Gala

Dalí and Gala, together since 1929, were married in a civil ceremony in Paris. Besides being his muse, Gala acted as his business manager, funding their extravagant lifestyle while adeptly steering clear of insolvency.

November 1934

First visit to the US: “I am not mad”

Dalí's first visit to the United States drew wide press coverage, and his second show at Julien Levy's was again a success. In lectures on Surrealism at MoMA he first told audiences: “The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad.”

1934–1948

Travel: United States