Declaration of the independence of imagination and the rights of man to his own madness
Pamphlet
1939 (printed)
1939 (printed)
| Artist/Maker |
Salvador Dalí wrote this declaration after his experience creating a pavilion for the 1939 New York World's fair. The 'Dream of Venus' pavilion was a Surrealist undersea grotto where semi naked women performed in tanks playing piano and milking cows amongst other suitably surreal activities. The image on this pamphlet of Botticelli’s Venus with the head of a fish was Dalí’s original idea for the Pavilion’s entrance. However, the design was rejected by the Fair’s organisers who stated “‘A woman with the head of a fish is impossible” and replaced it with a simple reproduction of Venus. Believing that his artistic vision had been unacceptably compromised, Dalí responded by producing this pamphlet berating the Fair’s organisers and rallying against mediocrity in art by consensus.
Object details
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| Object type | |
| Title | Declaration of the independence of imagination and the rights of man to his own madness (assigned by artist) |
| Brief description | Pamphlet 'Declaration of the independence of imagination and the rights of man to his own madness'. Salvador Dalí, 1939. |
| Physical description | [4] p. : ill. |
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| Summary | Salvador Dalí wrote this declaration after his experience creating a pavilion for the 1939 New York World's fair. The 'Dream of Venus' pavilion was a Surrealist undersea grotto where semi naked women performed in tanks playing piano and milking cows amongst other suitably surreal activities. The image on this pamphlet of Botticelli’s Venus with the head of a fish was Dalí’s original idea for the Pavilion’s entrance. However, the design was rejected by the Fair’s organisers who stated “‘A woman with the head of a fish is impossible” and replaced it with a simple reproduction of Venus. Believing that his artistic vision had been unacceptably compromised, Dalí responded by producing this pamphlet berating the Fair’s organisers and rallying against mediocrity in art by consensus. |
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| Collection | |
| Library number | 38041800859019 |
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| Record created | March 4, 2015 |
| Record URL |
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