Surreal encounters between the painter and the carmaker : Salvador Dali and the Cadillac
The Spanish Surrealist painter, Salvador Dali may seem an unlikely subject to be associated with that most American of cars, the Cadillac, but behind this unexpected link is an unusual story.
Dali, born in Figueras in Spain, in 1904, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid, later moving to Paris where he joined the Surrealists in 1928. He developed a deep study of abnormal psychology and dream symbolism, and created "paranoiac" objects in landscapes remembered from his boyhood; in 1940 he moved to America.
Dali's family did not possess a car and it was not until 1941 that he acquired one, a Cadillac. For the rest of his life Dali remained faithful to the Cadillac marque, although he never learned to drive. It was the appearance of cars that attracted or repelled Dali, and cars figure in a surprising number of his paintings. Thus it was that General Motors, having achieved considerable commercial success with a Cadillac de Luxe, decided to launch an even more luxurious and expensive version. Dali was approached by General Motors to launch this new version and immediately suggested that it should be called the Cadillac de Gala after his partner.
Dali took the idea further, producing a sketch of the proposed Cadillac de Gala which he sent to General Motors. In his sketch, Dali draped the current Cadillac in a metallic violet shell which hid the roof and the body-sides, leaving only the windows visible.
General Motors did not respond and there it seemed the matter had ended, except that after a gap of almost two years a new model was introduced, the Cadillac de Gala. But while the name suggested by Dali was used, perhaps not surprisingly General Motors chose to ignore the designs sent to them by Dali.
Infuriated, Dali assembled his lawyers who forwarded General Motors an ultimatum - $10,000 for the use of the name or legal action would follow (Apparently, $10,000 was the standard unit used by Dali in making calculations).
Legend has it that the following morning a registered letter arrived from General Motors containing a cheque for $10,000, but without any written acknowledgement or explanation.
Dali always claimed that his 1941 Cadillac was one of a series of only five produced - the others having been produced for Clark Gable and President Roosevelt among other personalities.
It was this car that Dali featured in two of his most famous paintings - The Automobile Clothed and The Spectral Automobile, both of which can be seen today in the Dali Theatre-Museum at Dali's home town of Figueras, both monuments to this strangest of artists and his love affair with the Cadillac.