6 Wild Ways Salvador Dalí Celebrated Creativity (and Sold Art)
Why You Too Should Be Considering Leaping Out of Life-Size Eggs and Waxing on About Cauliflower
By Thea Fiore-Bloom, PhD
When was the last time you had fun marketing your art?
That long, eh?
You’re not alone.
Constant work “building our online platform” can leave artists and writers dull as dirt.
Fear, too, can dampen down the once healthy fire that got us to jump up and join the dance of art in the first place.
When things get scary or stale, we tend to market our art in robotic ways, which turns buyers off.
Why not then allow Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)to give us a push back into the kiddie pool of wonder?
Dalì, the showman, offers six valuable lessons for artists on how we can benefit by letting go of approval and embracing our unique spark.
6 Surreal Things You Don’t Know About Salvador Dalí That Will Change How You Share Your Art
Surprising Dalì Fact # 1
Dalí’s Morning Spiel Was A Shocker
What do you say to yourself when you get up every morning?
Does it involve swear words?
For a bit of contrast, let’s hear how Dalì started his day.
He said:
“Every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure: that of being Salvador Dalì, and I ask myself, wonderstruck, what prodigious thing will he do today, this Salvador Dalì?”
Creative Courage Lesson #1
Practice Speaking About Yourself in the 3rd Person
Please read the above quote out loud.
But with one small change.
Substitute your whole name for Salvador Dalí‘s name.
Come on, Shaquille O’Neal speaks in the 3rd person to millions.
You can try it once in private.
I did.
I laughed out loud.
It’s liberating for heart-centered artists like us to even pretend to have tremendous confidence.
Surprising Dalì Fact #2
Dalí Thought Divinity Resided in the Cauliflower (And He Had a Point)
In 1955, Dalí drove a Rolls-Royce Phantom packed with 500 kilograms of cauliflower from his home in Spain to the Sorbonne in Paris to deliver a lecture.
Dalí told journalist Mike Wallace he chose the cauliflower because he was fond of the vegetable’s relationship to the Fibonacci Sequence.
Varieties of cauliflower (as well as this Romanesco broccoli above) are indeed delicious demonstrations of a Fibonacci Sequence, a mathematical pattern underpinning the layout of things like pine cones and galaxies.
During his Sorbonne talk, Dalí pounded a podium he had strewn with breadcrumbs while he declared that the universe is contained within the cauliflower.
And he had a point.
The cauliflower can be seen as bearing the pattern of organic life itself.
But what has cauliflower got to do with you?
Creative Courage Lesson #2
Practice Believing Your Obsessions Are Cool
People still talk about the cauliflower incident, not just because it was a sensational stunt.
The story is retold because Dali dared to believe that what fascinated him mattered.
You, too, can choose to do the same.
Believe in and showcase your ardor for science, history, design, literature, or music in your art.
You may be pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic response you receive when you don’t play it safe.
Surprising Dalì Fact #3
Dalí Dug When Freud Called Him a “Fanatic”
Sigmund Freud’s daring focus on dreams and sexuality made him a hero of Dalí’s.
Freud had Dalí to tea in his home outside of London on a July afternoon in 1938.
The father of psychoanalysis whispered to a colleague at the tea: “This boy looks like a fanatic.”
Supposedly, when word got back about this to Dalí, the artist was delighted.
Dalí admired madmen for their creativity and was fond of saying:
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.”
Creative Courage Lesson #3
Practice Being Immune To Being Called Weird
Can you imagine possessing the security not to be crushed by a judgment or criticism foisted on you by a massive authority figure or personal hero?
I think many extraordinary artists over time have purposefully grown healthy, hard shells because they didn’t want emotional upset to keep hurling them off the scent of what truly mattered–their work.
Surprising Dalí Fact #4
Dalí’s Marketing Was Not Separate From His Art
Below is a video still showing Dalí and his wife Gala bursting out of a giant, milk-filled egg at the seashore.
Just another day for Dalí.
How liberating would it be if we all had the guts to do promo pieces where we jumped out of giant things like cakes or eggs?
What if we didn’t care if people thought we were kooks?
Creative Courage Lesson #4
Practice Injecting Your Marketing With As Much Creativity As You Do Your Art
Infuse your marketing with as much joy, whimsy, wonder, or pathos as you do your art.
The more we allow our marketing to be an authentic extension of our art and a celebration of our unique creativity, the less it will be a dreaded chore.
Surprising Dalì Fact 5
Dalí’s Surreal Appearance on “What’s My Line?”
Dalí appeared as a guest on “What’s My Line?”
It was a classy, pre-Internet game show where a blindfolded panel deduced the identity of a guest by peppering them with questions.
In 1957, panelist Arlene Francis asked Dalí: “Would you be considered a leading man?”
He answered— “Yes.”
Much to the abject frustration of host John Charles Daly, Dalí went on to answer yes to almost every question posed by the panel, including:
“Are you a professional athlete?”
And, “Do you perform in less clothes than you are wearing here tonight?”
Creative Courage Lesson #5
Practice Shocking Others Regularly
I love Dalí for responding not as a Hollywood sycophant, but as a surrealist who viewed everything with humor.
If his answers provoked, fine.
In fact, Dalí said:
“El que quiere interesar a los demás tiene que provocarlos.”
“He who wishes to interest other people needs to provoke them,” said Dalí.
If you are playful (and most creatives are), stay playful. Keep being your naturally charming, provocative, or outrageous self.
(Artist Beatrice Wood was the queen of this state of being. Discover more on her here: Beatrice Wood: What No One Tells You About Her, Why She Isn’t Famous & How She Can Make Your Art Life Blossom.)
Contrary to what relatives at the holiday table said, you can succeed in business by being yourself.
In our line of work, it’s often a plus.
Surprising Dali Fact #6
Dalí Was a Polymath Who Tried Almost Everything
You may know Dalí made 1,5oo paintings.
He designed the dream sequence for Hitchcock’s “Spellbound.”
Dali also created a shocker of a window for Bonwit Teller and excelled in mixed media (see lobster phone).
He co-designed couture (see his inkwell hat and “Lobster Dress” with Elsa Schiaparelli), and invented products like a transparent mannequin aquarium filled with live goldfish.
Dalí created historic films with Luis Buñuel. He invented the Lips Sofa (below).
He designed a logo still emblazoned on every Chupa Chups lollipop.
But were you aware that Dalí also wrote two works of fiction?
The first is his autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalì, a refreshing read that scholars say has little to do with the truth.
The second was his novel Hidden Faces, a story of the dazzling intrigues among a circle of eccentric aristocrats.
Dali even went on to create a surrealist cookery book, Les Diners de Gala.
Creative Courage Lesson #6
Practice Shocking Yourself
Consider trying out an alternate set of creative muscles.
Writers benefit from making art, even if it’s not so hot.
What would it be like for artists to be daring like Dalì and humorously create a mini-memoir that contained, say, at most, 20 % truth?
Or is a project like that going too far?
But when people accused Salvador Dalí of “going too far,” he would reply:
“It’s the only place I ever wanted to go.”
Has Dalí ever inspired you?
Tell me how in the comment section below!
If you liked this post, you might like these other Charmed Studio posts:
O’Keeffe, Rachel Carson, Van Gogh, Hopper & Matisse, Beatrice Wood, Beatrix Potter, Alison Saar, Remedios Varo, Ray Bradbury, or Frida Kahlo.
Bonus Link: 2-minute interview clip with poet Danez Smith on how creatives can use surrealism to benefit society.
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Thea thank you for another fun and inspiring podcast! I have always adored Dali’s work, my favorite being the Temptation of St.Anthony! As an artist I stopped promoting myself cold turkey because of what you call ‘robotic ‘ behavior.In addition all of my energy was spent on marketing rather than creating. I did try your suggestion about speaking of myself in third person! Hilarious. Dali was such a clever and humorous man, I would have loved spending time with him.Yes, we are more than just our art, there are so many levels to us. You say writers would benefit from being artists and I say the same of artists being writers.(I know many who are).How very cool that two eccentric men met and had tea! Your suggestions are fascinating but how do you jump out of the proverbial egg for promos?How do we inject our marketing strategies in more creative and fun ways?
The Temptation of St Anthony. Yes, that is a most powerful painting isn’t it? And such a completely original composition-take on a classic saint theme.How did he think of that? And then the daring involved in showing it! He was wild and brave.
I think your question is a worthy one:”How do you jump out of the proverbial egg for promos?” Thing is, I think you already have in several ways. The most recent way being your making the interview based vlogs on courage in relation to your entry in The Brooklyn Sketchbook Project.
I think we succeed in marketing when we stop listening to people talking about increasing sales and just have fun, ironically that is when we have more sales right?
By way of another example, one creative accidental marketing miracle example happened for me on Pinterest. I stopped my previous manic following of all the marketing maven advice for Pinterest (which did not work for me and made me feel weird)and just focused on what was important to ME instead. That has come in the form lately of making many boards entirely devoted to a single lesser- known black or brown artist. It has been so joyful for me and the hysterical thing is, unintentionally, my views skyrocketed. Perhaps because many other artists (of all colors) on Pinterest, are like me and you, are tired of the predominantly caucasian-based art feed and want to see and support Diverse artwork by diverse artists.
PS I am working my way up to jumping out of a cake. I did go as a woman jumping out of cake for Halloween one year, does that count?
Thea, I did not realize that’s what I was doing already (jumping out of the proverbial egg)! Yes, Dali was wild and brave and dared to be oh so different! It always amazes me how many marketers sell that pitch about ‘more followers, higher numbers’ when its not about that at all! We are so desperate and vulnerable that we tend to fall into that trap.How amazingly generous of you to create Pinterest boards of diverse artists and the respond to that! Kudos to you!I am trying to picture you as a woman jumping out of a cake and yes it counts LOL
Yup, you Sylvia are already an egg jumper extroidinaire! Work it girl! 🙂 And yes the “More followers, higher numbers” hypnotism is so rampant. IMO, if art bloggers would spend more time showering the people they already have in their audience who love and support them with the attention they rightly deserve, the art blogger themselves would feel more connected to themselves and their business, which would most likely flower in new and unexpected ways. Here is an article by a fellow artist/writer/ Charmed Studio subscriber you might like, it hammers home the point that what we don’t need is more followers, what we need is more connection. https://aliciajoy.net/focus-connection/. I am thinking of joining Alicia’s free “Write With Me Weds”…let me know if you want to too.https://aliciajoy.net/current/.
Also I can’t remember if I ever showed you this humorous article of mine on 4 Surprising Benefits of A Small Mailing List:https://skinnyartist.com/4-benefits-of-a-small-mailing-list/. It explains why and how I hold myself back from frothing at the mouth and chasing the subscriber numbers, lol.
Keep up the good work in the egg business. You are amazing.
Haha, egg jumper extraordinaire! I don’t have a regular blog (only blogged twice) but have been playing around with the idea of writing one. Since I have been on social media, I made it a point of supporting others because it felt like the right thing to do.Alicia hit the nail on the head with her article! Thank you for letting me know about her ‘Write with me Wednesday’. I see that she has lots of other interesting things going on for writers!!!! For right now I have to turn it down .Would you believe that a few weeks ago I sat down and listed all the things I need to do on a daily basis and ended up with ten, yes, ten hours ! Insane! The purpose of this little exercise was to see where all my precious time is going. A few things I delegated. Now I need to figure out what else I can let go! I read your funny article previously and read it again (this stuff has to sink in after all) : Surprising Benefits of A Small Mailing List:https://skinnyartist.com/4-benefits-of-a-small-mailing-list/. Everything makes so much more sense now! Don’t be surprised if there will be some egg rolling ,cracking, jumping happening down the road.
I like the article
Thanks for stopping by and reading the piece.
I was told by my 5th grade after teacher, that I should never try to be an artist.
At that time I took her at her word and abandoned my latent skills until I discovered Salvador Doli work.
After studying his work I also became attracted to the styles of Boris Vallejo, Vincent Van Gogh and Peter Max whom I’ve had the pleasure to meet after I discovered my true creative talents.
Although I have received some prestigious recognition for my unique designs – I have not focused on selling my work to date.
I was very pleased to discover this write up about this very famous & unique artist and I can now see my way into promoting my own unique style.
Most of the time I don’t where my work comes from. But I often feel the influence of brother Salvador Doli’s spirit when I complete each piece.
Thank again for this outline of his life.
Thank you for your wonderful insight and story Cubie! I was just thinking about how wonderful Peter Max is yesterday in fact. So glad to see that you too, resonate with the generous, bold spirit of the fire brand Dali. Congratulations on your achievements thus far, you have left that 5th grade teacher in the dust my friend.
I absolutely adored this article about Dali and how you applied it to finding our joy in creativity. He was an inspiration to me during my days in art school. There was a private collection of his work in a nearby museum in Cleveland. I was stunned by the scale and scope of his work. His playfulness and humor never failed to amuse and confound me. His life seemed so free and his imagination endless. I love how you point out that he had “marketing techniques” because I failed to recognize that previously. I think every artist needs a sense of playfulness, it is a requirement to survival.
I’m over the moon the piece resonated with you. I thought about you often as I wrote and re-wrote this piece- your humor, your authenticity and your completely original art bubbled about my brain. Like Dali, you get the joke of it all, this weird life thing. You also are a role model for me because though you care about marketing and are curious and interested in business stuff, approval or sales figures do not consume you, the money isn’t what its about for you.
Oh its interesting you say you never thought of Dali as a marketer. Some critics are so into dissing him saying he was only ALL about the money. But I disagree. I think his style extended naturally into marketing and unlike many artists he was honest enough to admit in interviews, he had nothing against money, it was something else to have fun with in life. But if he hadn’t made any money from his art, I think he would still have had a ball. He got delirious just from collecting rocks on the seashore for god sakes. His own brain alongside books, art, and probably Gala-were his true go to resources. 🙂