“A dandy,” wrote Charles Baudelaire, "must be looking in his
mirror at all times, waking and sleeping." Dali could easily have
become the living proof of Baudelaire’s dictum. But the literal
mirror was not enough for him. Dali needed mirrors of many kinds:
his pictures, his admirers,newspapers and magazines and
television. And even that still left him
unsatisfied.
So one Christmas he took a walk in the streets of New York
carrying a bell. He would ring it whenever he felt people were not
paying enough attention to him. "The thought of not being
recognised was unbearable.“ True to himself to the bitter end, he
delighted in following Catalonian television’s bulletins on his
state of health during his last days alive (in Quiron hospital in
Barcelona); he wanted to hear people talking about him, and he
also wanted to know whether his health would revive or whether he
would be dying soon. At the age of six he wanted to be a female
cook - he specified the gender. At seven he wanted to be Napoleon.
"Ever since, my ambition has been continually on the increase, as
has my megalomania: now all I want to be is Salvador Dali. But the
closer I get to my goal, the further Salvador Dall drifts away
from me.”
目录
The Dandy and his Mirror
The Proof of Love
Edible Beauty
The Conquest of the Irrational
The Magic Secrets of Avida Dollars
The Mystical Manifesto
Paths to Immortality
Dali: A Chronology
Notes
Bibliography
Dali’s Exhibitions
Picture Credits
