Customer Reviews

Dali's Mustache

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the photos in this book, but that is all there was to it. There are about 40 really great photos of Dali doing strange things with his mustache. It is certainly not, as I was led to believe by the other reviewer, a novel. One can easily read the whole book in just a few minutes. It is called a photographic interview and just has some questions, each followed by a crazy photo with a caption.

This book is mainly pictures of Salvador Dali's mustache in different poses. His whiskers have stand straight up, go straight out, and everything in between. There is some some dialogue that is nothing more than questions and answers. For instance, it is asked why Dali paints. On the next page his mustache is shaped like an 'S' and there are two paint brushes running across his face to complete the dollar sign '$'.

I love this book because I am a big fan of Dali. Also my daughter has come to love it and usually asks for this book for her bedtime story. It makes her giggle because some of the pictures are just so strange. Although the picture of Dali as the Mona Lisa is quite disturbing.

The book can be read in under three minutes, but for fans of "The Dali" it can bring a lifetime of pleasure.

A must have for all Salvador Dali fans and a definate collectors item. World famous photographer Philippe Halsman beautifully (and sometimes disturbingly) brings to life one of the greatest Dali obsessions of all time...his mustache. A funny and free-spirited trip into a crazy world. I highly recomend this novel for any enthusiast or someone with a taste for the bizarre. Painstainkingly produced. A masterpiece for all ages!

I'm not an educated art critic or even really a big art fan, but I take an art class for my high school and one day my teacher showed us this book. I thought it looked weird and since thats the type of art I like i picked it up and read it. This book is very weird and funny. The ways they can get the moustache to stand are really cool. I especially like the fishing pole one and the graph but really all the pictures are good. This book has turned me on to the weirder side of art.

We saw this at l'Espace Salvador Dali in Paris and loved it, but didn't want to pay museum/weak dollar prices. It was a good value on Amazon, and my son (a big Dali fan) loved it for Christmas. It's a photographic interview with Dali about his mustache. Each question is followed by a short answer with illustrative photograph of the artist's mustache in various wild, waxed poses. The photos are hysterical; the humor all Dali.

"Very pleased". I received the item in a timely manner and in perfect condition. I am very pleased. Thumbs up. Thank you very much.

What becomes the legendary mustache of a famous artist most? A series of way over-the-top photographs by a famous photographer. The results: this delightfully funny collection of questions of Salvador Dali with photographic answers by Philippe Halsman. Fans of the photographer will remember that he also gave the world the whimsical JUMP BOOK where he asked famous people including Marilyn Monroe, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor-- that couple obviously would do anything for publicity-- and Mr. Dali as well to jump and shot them as they left the floor. (I have always been amused and gladdened that Eleanor Roosevelt graciously declined to jump.)

There are about 30 or so photographs including the one reproduced on the cover of the book. Also included are a Preface written by Dali, Postface by Halsman and Publisher's Notes explaining how some of the more "surreal" photographs were accomplished. The photographs on pages 55 and 111 are just two good examples. Page 55---("No, I am completely mobile"). The explanation is that Halsman cut the mustache and eyebrow out of the print, then cut out the eye, attaching it with thin wire to the eyebrow. Then he hung this mobile from another wire to get the effect of the mustache becoming a Calderesque work of art. Amazing! The answer to the question "Dali, what do you see when you look at Mona Lisa? "A paragon of beauty." We see the Dali's mustache, eyes and hands transposed onto Leonardo's masterpiece (p. 111). The photograph on page 67 is one of my favorites, a takeoff on one of Dali's most famous images, what I would call the melted clocks. He answers the question: "What is surrealism?" "Surrealism is myself." Another favorite is the shot on page 15 where we see a portrait of Dali dressed in coat and tie holding his mustache in both hands. But oops! There is no face. The explanation for this photo that answers the question of why he wears a mustache ("In order to pass observed") is that Halsman made a regular portrait and painted out the face of Dali before printing the negative.

These two men obviously had the times of their lives coming up with the ideas that eventually made it into this little gem of a book that has written on the back: "Warning! This Book Is Preposterous." These photographs have to be seen to be believed. Words cannot describe them.

Un livre très original sous forme de questions posées à Dali, auxquelles il répond par des photos pleines d'humour.
Les questions et les réponses sont en anglais mais sont très compréhensibles,d'autant que les photos aident bien.

I was surprised to see that this Dali book is more a book of photography than of any of Dali's art. I mean, I knew it was mostly pictures of him, but it turns out to be all these complicated photographs of Dali! It's pretty interesting, especially if you're into photos. And what makes the book is the last section where there are descriptions of how all the weirdest pictures were taken. To think that all of them could have been done effortlessly on a computer these days says something about Philippe Halsman's dedication. Kudos!