88 unpublished photographs of Salvador Dalí by Philippe Halsman on show

Barcelona (ACN).– Unpublished photographs of the Surrealist Catalan painter Salvador Dalí made by Philippe Halsman are on show at the Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol, North of Girona and close to the Costa Brava. Dalí and Halsman had a friendship that lasted 37 years and the photographs reflect these close ties. The American photographer was popularly known for his serious portraits in 'Life' magazine, where a hundred covers carried his signature. Halsman showed his more transgressive side when he met Salvador Dalí. He left aside the photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Alfred Hitchcock, John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and Pablo Picasso to fully enter into an innovative project that sought to “shoot thinking” and reach a new concept of art.

According to Halsman's daughter, Irene, the two artists maintained a relationship of mutual motivation and creation. She claims “they were like kids playing and inventing things”. She also remembers that “they were very perfectionist and perhaps took a shot 38 times until it was perfect”. The exhibition also includes unpublished photographs that Halsman and Dalí had discarded. For example, you can see images taken through a mirror where Halsman and his wife appear or some funny pictures of Dalí and his moustache looking at the camera making gestures.

The exhibition is divided into four thematic sections that follow a chronological order. The first one is called 'Portraits', which display photos taken between 1941 and 1965 where Dalí and his moustache are the protagonists. The second section, 'Dalí Atomicus' (1948), is a series of pictures inspired by Dali’s 'Leda Atomica' oil painting where you can see the Catalan genius air painting with all the characteristic surreal elements in suspension.

The third section, ‘Sculpture of Light’ (1950), is a series inspired by a photo featuring Picasso painting a Minotaur with a light. Finally, the fourth part is the well-known series known as 'The Skull' where they imagine a skull made ??from naked female bodies. The exhibition is on show until the 31st December.