Fantastic Beach Scene

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”.

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.

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.”

1936

A lecture in a diving suit in London

At the International Surrealist Exhibition in London Dalí lectured in a deep-sea diving suit and helmet, which had to be unscrewed when he gasped for breath. “I just wanted to show that I was plunging deeply into the human mind,” he said.

1936

The Spanish Civil War and Lorca's death

The Civil War found Dalí in London. On learning that his friend Lorca had been executed by Nationalist forces, he claimed to have shouted “Olé!”, yet he referred to the poet in his art and writings for the rest of his life; he never took a public stand for or against the Republic.

1936

MoMA show and the cover of Time

Dalí took part in MoMA's “Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism” and held a solo show at Julien Levy's; “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)” drew particular attention. On 14 December the 32-year-old Dalí was on the cover of Time magazine.