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Dalí's Mustache
With 101 Life magazine covers to his credit, Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) was one of the leading portrait photographers of his time. In addition to his distinguished career in photojournalism, Halsman was one of the great pioneers of experimental photography, motivated by a profound desire to push this youngest of art forms toward new frontiers by using innovative and unorthodox photographic techniques. One of Halsman's favorite subjects was Salvador Dali, the glittering and controversial painter and theorist with whom the photographer shared a unique friendship and extraordinary professional collaboration that spanned over thirty years. Whenever Dali imagined a photograph so strange that its production seemed impossible, Halsman tried to find the solution, and invariably succeeded. As Halsman explains in his postface, Dali's Mustache is the fruit of this marriage of the minds. The jointly conceived and seemingly nonsensical questions and answers reveal the gleeful humor and assumed cynicism for which Dali is famous, while the marvelous and inspired images of Dali's mustache brilliantly display Halsman's consumate skill and extraordinary inventiveness as a photographer. This combination of wit, absurdity, and the off-handedly profound is irresistible and has contributed to the enduring fascination inspired by this unique photographic interview, which has become a cult classic and valuable collector's item since its original publication in 1954. The present volume faithfully reproduces the first edition and will introduce a new generation to the irreverent humor and imaginative genius of two great artists.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1954
2 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Salvador Dalí
384 books718 followersSalvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol, was a Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia.
Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.
Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on Hitchcock's film Spellbound.
Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."
Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.
Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.
Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on Hitchcock's film Spellbound.
Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."
Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
January 30, 2022
"The great lesson of Dalí's mustache is that we all must patiently or impatiently grow within us something that makes us different, unique, and irreplaceable."
A brief book but the photos are fascinating, made even more so by the descriptions in the back about how they were executed, long before the time of Adobe Photoshop. Plus, there's delightful humor throughout. A fun, creative book not to be missed by Dalí fans and photography aficionados.
A brief book but the photos are fascinating, made even more so by the descriptions in the back about how they were executed, long before the time of Adobe Photoshop. Plus, there's delightful humor throughout. A fun, creative book not to be missed by Dalí fans and photography aficionados.
April 8, 2017
Fun for the Dali fan. Also for photography/Halsman fans (re: notes in the back that discuss how the photos were created). A nice little art piece.
March 9, 2017
Total fluff, but that seems to have been by the design of making a "preposterous" book. Halsman's a clever pop portraitist, so this can perhaps be just taken as a series of inventive variations in representing a single subject. The fact that that subject is Dali's mustache and this is framed as a kind of interview might make this more annoying or more essential depending on your interest in Dali's persona. Despite my interest in surrealism, for me that tips this towards "a little annoying". HOWEVER, this was in the library of a house I stayed in in Mexico City, which makes running across it at random nothing but a perk.
May 26, 2025
Yes, a preposterous funny book. so Dalinian. The photos to the questions are genius!
December 7, 2011
Oh, sure, it's a goofy, quick interview of Dali being surreal with his moustache. The few pages of text from the photographer and publisher are awesome, and ramp up what you get out of this book. It's actually pretty brilliant.
November 17, 2011
Warning! This book is preposterous!!!
January 27, 2018
Beautiful, hilarious, and informative.
August 12, 2019
Una joya
May 27, 2021
I love everything about this little book.
November 23, 2011
I’m a photography student, but I'm not sure which I appreciate more, Dali’s personality, or Halsman’s talent. Dali is such a ham! My fave photo in particular is the “no problem is too knotty for me” photo. I’ve never seen a bowed out mustache before! Or maybe I’m just biased (I love bow ties!) + the last photo cracks me up. On the other hand, I wonder how Philippe Halsman feels now that the days he spent on manipulating his images can now be done within hours in photoshop. :>
This book made me realize how much I need a trademark!!:/ I would definitely love to have this in my personal collection!
This book made me realize how much I need a trademark!!:/ I would definitely love to have this in my personal collection!
July 11, 2011
Only about 100 pages long, this book pairs photos of Salvador Dali with amusing captions provided by the author. The perfect gift; one I, myself, received from my mother.
April 27, 2014
I enjoyed this tiny little book. Very amusing indeed.
It gives the reader a nice window to peek into dali's mysterious mind .
It gives the reader a nice window to peek into dali's mysterious mind .
April 14, 2020
Great coffeetable book.
Love re-reading every so often, fun for the goofy answers and photographs!
Love re-reading every so often, fun for the goofy answers and photographs!
March 9, 2024
So… I’ve been working on my mustache, growing out the ends and learning how to wax it into shapes and when I looked up The Inspiration, I found this book among the search returns. And fortunate me, the Internet Archive had a copy to borrow!
The author told Dali that plenty of books had been written about artists, but none about a part of their personality. In response to the idea of a book about his mustache, “The immensity of the tribute visibly touched Dali. I thought it only fair to warn him: ‘It is a purely idealistic venture. I can hardly imagine anybody buying such a book.’ ‘Nobody realizes the commercial possibilities of my mustache,’ said Dali. ‘Only yesterday a TV network offered me $500 for the right to televise it for 10 minutes.’ “
Exchange between the photographer and an actress looking through the photographs in the book and asking why he seemed so happy about some of the photos that made her wince:
“Because it proves that they have some of the quality a surrealist’s work should have.”
“I don’t understand,” she said timidly.
“Most people don’t understand surrealism. They confuse it with symbolism or they think it is an art style, like, for instance, impressionism. But surrealism is not a style, it is a method of creating. There cannot he such a thing as an impressionistic bathtub. But Dali’s famous fur-lined bathtub in Bonwit Teller’s window was a surrealistic object par excellence. When a surrealist creates, he is not controlled by his intellect or any moral standards; he creates with his subconscious mind. A Raphael sought harmony; a surrealist tries to disturb. His work is not directed at our reason; it aims straight at our subconscious. If you wince, it is proof positive that he has scored a direct hit on your libido. ”
I love surrealism and Dali is one of my favorites. As to his mustache, he used An Hungarian wax that the author learned was sold in only two places in the US but didn’t know where. Enter that internet search again, and I can get some myself.
Thanks to this whimsical little book, the artist is even more endeared to me.
The author told Dali that plenty of books had been written about artists, but none about a part of their personality. In response to the idea of a book about his mustache, “The immensity of the tribute visibly touched Dali. I thought it only fair to warn him: ‘It is a purely idealistic venture. I can hardly imagine anybody buying such a book.’ ‘Nobody realizes the commercial possibilities of my mustache,’ said Dali. ‘Only yesterday a TV network offered me $500 for the right to televise it for 10 minutes.’ “
Exchange between the photographer and an actress looking through the photographs in the book and asking why he seemed so happy about some of the photos that made her wince:
“Because it proves that they have some of the quality a surrealist’s work should have.”
“I don’t understand,” she said timidly.
“Most people don’t understand surrealism. They confuse it with symbolism or they think it is an art style, like, for instance, impressionism. But surrealism is not a style, it is a method of creating. There cannot he such a thing as an impressionistic bathtub. But Dali’s famous fur-lined bathtub in Bonwit Teller’s window was a surrealistic object par excellence. When a surrealist creates, he is not controlled by his intellect or any moral standards; he creates with his subconscious mind. A Raphael sought harmony; a surrealist tries to disturb. His work is not directed at our reason; it aims straight at our subconscious. If you wince, it is proof positive that he has scored a direct hit on your libido. ”
I love surrealism and Dali is one of my favorites. As to his mustache, he used An Hungarian wax that the author learned was sold in only two places in the US but didn’t know where. Enter that internet search again, and I can get some myself.
Thanks to this whimsical little book, the artist is even more endeared to me.
December 23, 2023
Kamēr ģimene ēda beļģu vafeles (tās, kas Beļģijā, nevis plastmasā), pārtipināju pāri centrālajam laukumam, kur pie muzeja ieejas rotājās liela Dalī fotogrāfija. Notrāpīju uz izstādi, kurā varēju aplūkot simtiem Dalī zīmējumu un skiču. Vēl varēja iegādāties šo grāmatu, kas laikam bija viens no lētākajiem suvenīriem. Un visus šos gadus tā bija aizbāzta kaut kur aiz mākslas grāmatām un biogrāfijām. Es varu iedomāties, kā šis fakts saniknotu Dalī. Un vispār - arī mani. Jo šī ir lieliska grāmata!
Grāmata - fotointervija. Fotogrāfs Filips Halsmans uzdod jautājumus Dalī (patiesībā tas ir kopdarbs - gan jautājumi, gan atbildes, gan fotogrāfiju idejas), un atbildes ir Halsmana uzņemtās fotogrāfijas ar Dalī, precīzāk - ar viņa ūsām un ar teikumu vai pāris vārdiem. Sākotnēji intervija ir ļoti plūstoša, viens jautājums dabiski noved pie nākamā. Vēlāk gan pārņem sajūta, ka dižie mākslinieki aizrāvās ar vizuālajām idejām, un intervijas plūsmu pārtrauc nejauši jautājumi, kas ved uz atšķirīgām debespusēm. Bet dižā ūsa ir virsvadītāja, kas notur uzmanību līdz pēdējai fotogrāfijai.
Patiešām aizraujoši bija arī iepazīties ar dažu fotogrāfijas tapšanas vēsturi, ko piedāvā pēdējā nodaļa. Kā fotogrāfa sieva medīja skaistākās sūdu mušas, ko piedāvā Ņujorka. Kā mēnešiem ilgi Halsmans pārveidoja negatīvus (atceramies - nekāda fotošopa tajā laikā, kur nu vēl mākslīgais intelekts (kurš nav ne mākslīgs, ne intelektuāls, ja nu kas)), lai Dalī seja varētu iekust pulksteņa ciparnīcā. Kā bruņoti apsargi veda 10 000 naudiņu (tā arī nesapratu - vai dolāru?) banknotes uz fotosesiju un vaktēja mākslas tapšanu.
Grāmata ir patiešām asprātīga, ļoti muļķīga un diezgan izcila. Lai dzīvo ūsu gadsimts!
Grāmata - fotointervija. Fotogrāfs Filips Halsmans uzdod jautājumus Dalī (patiesībā tas ir kopdarbs - gan jautājumi, gan atbildes, gan fotogrāfiju idejas), un atbildes ir Halsmana uzņemtās fotogrāfijas ar Dalī, precīzāk - ar viņa ūsām un ar teikumu vai pāris vārdiem. Sākotnēji intervija ir ļoti plūstoša, viens jautājums dabiski noved pie nākamā. Vēlāk gan pārņem sajūta, ka dižie mākslinieki aizrāvās ar vizuālajām idejām, un intervijas plūsmu pārtrauc nejauši jautājumi, kas ved uz atšķirīgām debespusēm. Bet dižā ūsa ir virsvadītāja, kas notur uzmanību līdz pēdējai fotogrāfijai.
Patiešām aizraujoši bija arī iepazīties ar dažu fotogrāfijas tapšanas vēsturi, ko piedāvā pēdējā nodaļa. Kā fotogrāfa sieva medīja skaistākās sūdu mušas, ko piedāvā Ņujorka. Kā mēnešiem ilgi Halsmans pārveidoja negatīvus (atceramies - nekāda fotošopa tajā laikā, kur nu vēl mākslīgais intelekts (kurš nav ne mākslīgs, ne intelektuāls, ja nu kas)), lai Dalī seja varētu iekust pulksteņa ciparnīcā. Kā bruņoti apsargi veda 10 000 naudiņu (tā arī nesapratu - vai dolāru?) banknotes uz fotosesiju un vaktēja mākslas tapšanu.
Grāmata ir patiešām asprātīga, ļoti muļķīga un diezgan izcila. Lai dzīvo ūsu gadsimts!
December 28, 2023
After a festive & fat-making merry Christmas, I settled into bed at my family's country estate in Wodonga in a room that serves as their office & library. I looked at the random tomes about me & instantly Dali's name caught my eye. I figured it was a cheeky name & would somehow be a chick-lit novel... but instead it was a brief & hilarious book celebrating not only Dali's 'mustache', but mustachism in general. The photos are great, the faux-interview is great, everything is great, & I hope someone gets me a copy next Christmas.
Amen.
Amen.
February 13, 2022
Not much of a read, but a glorious and brief constitutional through the results of many long hours of two geniuses playing together. The results are wonderful, and I especially enjoyed the foreword by Dali for it's essential peep into the man's perspective and fondness for facial hair, and the postface by Halsman as well as the publisher's notes that dig into their process. An utter joy!
August 23, 2022
The photographs are fantastic, and it's so cool to get an explanation on how they were taken/made at the end of the book. Loved it.
"Ne seriez-vous pas fou?" "Je suis certainement plus sensé que la personne qui a acheté ce livre".
"Ne seriez-vous pas fou?" "Je suis certainement plus sensé que la personne qui a acheté ce livre".
August 28, 2019
Hilarious, absurd, smart, punny, beautiful. Thoroughly enjoyed this weird little book.
September 19, 2019
Fun and silly
Read
January 27, 2020not really a ”rating book”, but i really enjoyed the concept of it and the information about the photos
January 5, 2021
The 'stache,the 'stache.
June 6, 2023
A fun look at Dali’s absurdity—through pictures of his mustache. Entertaining and amusing.
April 9, 2025
le couverture de livre a dit "attention! livre absurde!" et ca c'est la verite HAHAHAH
January 27, 2008
Another artist whose work I dearly love. & even further proof that my politics doesn't always exclusively determine wch artists I endorse. After all, Stalin was great for that sort of thing, anarchists don't need to be doing it too. In the early 1980s I put together 2 editions of a small pamphlet called "Famous Moustaches". In the 1st edition, I included Frank Zappa, Adolph Hitler, John Waters, Groucho Marx, & myself (as Tim Ore). Waters pointed out that Dali shd be included. How cd I've missed him?! Hence the 2nd edition. Why wdn't I endorse Dali for political reasons? Welp, he was into money & he reconciled himself to the authotitarian regime of Franco in Spain. But, what the fuck, he had a fabulous imagination & that transcends it all.
April 26, 2013
Una verdadera joya encontrada casi por casualidad; hurgando entre las librerías en línea di con el ejemplar y lo adquirí.
Esta serie de retratos del genio de Figueras, tomados por el incansable Halsman nos dan algunas respuestas sobre Dalí, pero sobre todo, nos abren el campo a más preguntas. Dalí irradia su genio surrealista, absurdo, cómico y preciso a lo largo de estas cortas páginas. Un libro que puede leerse en unos pocos minutos pero qué está destinado a convertirse en uno de cabecera. Más de alguna sorpresa puede uno llevarse con él.
También vale mucho la pena las notas de producción, con algunos datos curiosos.
Esta serie de retratos del genio de Figueras, tomados por el incansable Halsman nos dan algunas respuestas sobre Dalí, pero sobre todo, nos abren el campo a más preguntas. Dalí irradia su genio surrealista, absurdo, cómico y preciso a lo largo de estas cortas páginas. Un libro que puede leerse en unos pocos minutos pero qué está destinado a convertirse en uno de cabecera. Más de alguna sorpresa puede uno llevarse con él.
También vale mucho la pena las notas de producción, con algunos datos curiosos.
April 22, 2020
This is a wonderful collaboration between two artists
The genius of Salvador Dali comes to life with Halsmans’ photography after seeing an exhibition of Dalis’ work this was a wonderful aside and a glimpse into his ego of sorts
If nothing else it’s a fun book to come back to now and again
The genius of Salvador Dali comes to life with Halsmans’ photography after seeing an exhibition of Dalis’ work this was a wonderful aside and a glimpse into his ego of sorts
If nothing else it’s a fun book to come back to now and again
November 8, 2013
A wry little book; a minor collection of Q & A with the famous facial hair illustrated with artful photographs. A minor, if amusing, work that says more about Dali's marketing than it does about the man, his work, or ideas. Surrealism and absurdism are so ubiquitous in today's society that it has lost the power to shock or confound. But then we wouldn't have programming like Space Ghost Coast to Coast and 12 oz. Mouse today if Dali and his fellows hadn't laid the foundation.
September 30, 2012
A wry little book; a minor collection of Q & A with the famous facial hair illustrated with artful photographs. A minor, if amusing, work that says more about Dali's marketing than it does about the man, his work, or ideas. Surrealism and absurdism are so ubiquitous in today's society that it has lost the power to shock or confound. But then we wouldn't have programming like Space Ghost Coast to Coast and 12 oz. Mouse today if Dali and his fellows hadn't laid the foundation.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews