Way Back When...Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali. Mad genius. Spanish surrealist. Wearer of pin stripe suits. Fascinating eccentric who had a 'thing' for my Mom.

They met one day through Carlos Alemany, who spun Dali's surrealistic creations into jewels. By their second meeting, Dali presented my Mom with one of Alemany's jewels...a ruby pin with a LIVE incandescent beetle attached...yes. LIVE. Beauty EXPONENTIALLY increases when it is fleeting I suppose....

In the early 60's Dali gained a lot of publicity in his search for the last color to finish his Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. For weeks he searched the sewers of NYC hoping to find the missing color! Oh eccentrics....

Then Dad gets a call at home.

It's Dali. He wants to see Mom and Rudy, the parrot. He always ignored Dad completely.

Mom and Rudy

Dad had had enough of Dali and his enormous entourage coming into the apartment, and suggested they meet at Rumplemeyers, a fabulous ice cream spot at the St. Moritz. It was Sunday afternoon, and Dad, Mom and Rudy often shared an ice cream after bicycle polo in the park. (yes, bicycle polo...)
Rudy would perch on the top of the tall sundae cup in absolute ice cream parrot heaven, and lick it clean.
Just as they finished, Rumplemeyers went dark...Dali and his entourage had arrived. The cloud of people stayed outside as Dali swept in through the revolving door.

And what was sewn into Dali's right shoulder of his pin striped suit? A bird perch!!! After all...how else would you meet a parrot on a Sunday afternoon...

He cupped his hand beneath Rudy now sitting on the pin striped perch and directs him to 'pew pew'. Dad has had about enough of this, and directs Rudy to 'poo poo'. Sure enough, Rudy ruffles his feathers, and dumps right in Dali's hand. (This was surely inspired by the 18th Century artist, Jauques Louis David, who finished his last great painting with the caca de dauphin, or the crown Prince's poop color...Dali might have thought Rudy's poop was a worthy 20th Century adaptation. )

Dali disappears through the revolving doors as fast as he came in, and it is suddenly light again outside as the cloud of onlookers follow him down Central Park South.
The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus is announced as finally finished soon after. And in the Bradley family, we like to think it was Rudy that did the trick...or at least got Dali OUT of the sewers.

-Love Eccentrics, Bradley.