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Dali Magazine Mall, The Villages, FL (2026)

01/17/2026

Dali loved to mug for the cameras and one of his favorite gimmicks was to put something on his head. Here is installment #1 of photos showing Dali with various headgear. Have a nice weekend!

01/16/2026

The Edward James Dali Art Collection

Here is a list by date then alphabetical order of the Dali paintings amassed by Edward James. In total James owned 31 Dali paintings. Keep in mind that the contract between Dali and James ran from July 1, 1936 and July 1, 1938 for a total of ₤2,400 (₤160,800/$201,500 in today’s money).

It is interesting to note how Dali’s production of paintings in the contract years started off strong and then tapered off. This seems to be a pattern that Dali (probably at Gala’s direction) maintained on numerous contracts throughout his career where he was required to complete several works.

The contract read “I am forbidden to sell or surrender, to anyone other than you, any picture, drawing or watercolour which I shall produce during this period.” Well that didn’t happen and James found out and up into the 1950’s James was trying to get the works sold by the Dali’s that rightfully belonged to him. Thus ended their friendship and was replaced by bitterness and acrimony.

Parts of the Edward James collection have been sold at different times and locations. James collected much more than just Dali paintings. May I suggest that you look at this December 15, 2016 sale at Christie’s? The sale contains a slew of non-Dali treasures that will have your head spinning. https://www.christies.com/en/auction/a-surreal-legacy-selected-works-of-art-from-the-edward-james-foundation-26730/

Pictured are all of the paintings by Dali that James owned.
1933
Phantom Cart 1933

1934
Mediumnistic-Paranoiac Image

1935
Suburbs of the “Paranoic-critical Town”
Paranoic Face
Paranoiac-Critical Solitude
Sun Table
White Calm

1936
A Couple with their Heads Full of Clouds
Anthropomorphism, extra flat Geological Justice
Autumnal cannibalism
City of Drawers
Couple with Their Heads Full of Clouds
Diurnal Melancholy
Feminine head which has the form of a battle
Geodesical portrait of Gala
Girl Skipping in a Landscape
The Anthropomorphic Cabinet
The Chemist of the Empordà in Search of the Void
The fossil automobile of Cape Creus
The Great Paranoiac

1937
Anbattet The Spit
Average Pagan Landscape
Buste à tiroir
Enchanted Beach
Metamorphosis of Narcissus
Sleep
Swans Reflecting Elephants

1938
Imperial Violets
Impressions of Africa
Melancholic Eccentricity
Palladio’s Corridor of Thalia
Spain

1939
Landscape with Telephones on a Dish

1941
Original Sin
Project for “Labyrinth”

01/15/2026

Edward James West Dean

West Dean is a palatial house originally built for a son of the Duke of Norfolk in 1603. It lies just outside Chichester, in Suss*x and was home to the James family since 1891. The West Dean Estate is comprised of approximately 6,350 acres of land. The estate has 136 houses and cottages, as well as more than 100 farm buildings. There are twelve farms on the estate, many of which have been owned by the estate for generations; their agricultural activates are split between livestock and cereals.

The estate contains a suite of interconnected gardens that date back to 1622. The gardens are one of the most visited in England.
When James decided to liquidate all his property in England and other assets to build Las Pozas, he founded The Edward James Foundation in 1964. His foundation was the recipient of West Dean House, West Dean College and West Dean Gardens. Upon his death the foundation also received the balance of his estate except Las Pozas.

Unlike many extraordinarily wealthy people Edward James is buried in a simple grave in one of the gardens of West Dean underneath a simple stone slab.

Up next: The James Dali Collection

01/14/2026

Edward James – Las Pozas

In central Mexico, Edward James created a surrealist 100 acre sanctuary called La Pozas (The Pools). James gravitated to Mexico because he felt more at home there. “In England, I was always criticized for being late and too illogical, so I constantly felt guilty. Here, being late and illogical is normal, so I don’t feel guilty!”

In 1945 James purchased a former coffee plantation and surrounding acreage in the rainforest town of Xilitla. He used the land to create a surrealistic sanctuary and garden. Work on the project began in 1947 and continued through 1979 at an estimated cost of $5 million ($48 million in today’s money). To help pay for this project and to set up the Edward James Foundation (a school for arts and crafts housed in West Dean) James sold his collection of Surrealist art in 1964.

The garden sanctuary started out as James version of “The Garden of Eden”. In 1962 a rare snow destroyed his collection of orchids and thereafter he focused on concrete structures. The 36 huge sculptures and multi-story objects were made in the shape of plants with a river running through them. It also includes a grove of bamboo that is over 60 feet high. Words cannot describe the beauty of the place, so I suggest you see it for yourself through several available YouTube videos. Attached here are a few photos to give you a taste of this fabulous place.

Up next; West Dean

01/13/2026

Edward James Monkton House

Monkton House is a six bedroom, five bathroom lodge that was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1902-3 on the West Dean Estate. It was designed for James’ parents as a retreat from their West Dean mansion.

In the 1930’s with the help of Salvador Dali, architect Kit Nicholson and interior decorator Norris Wakefield, Edward James transformed the lodge to reflect his empathy with the visionary world of the surrealists. They began the transformation by painting the house a shade of purple with a pink front door. The entrance columns were turned into palm trees, the drain pipes into bamboo sticks. The window sills became plaster drapes and the chimneys stacks were all different.

Inside some of the features included a bathroom made of translucent alabaster that had two sun and moon nightlights. – James also installed a new staircase with an elegant curve and had it covered with carpet originally woven with the footprint of his former wife, Tilly Losch. When the couple split, James later replaced the carpet with one woven with the footprint pattern of his Irish wolfhound. He said the dog was “A more faithful friend”.

The house was filled with unique furniture like the original Mae West sofa, lobster telephones, champagne cups lamps and several unique chair designs.

By the 1960s, James had become disillusioned with stuffy British life and moved to Mexico. On the advice of his American tax lawyer, he started getting rid of his assets in England. He turned over the West Dean property to the Edward James Foundation. He set this up to preserve and to teach craft skills he was concerned would be lost after the Second World War, and transformed West Dean House, into West Dean College.

In the mid-1980s, his foundation had put Monkton House and its contents up for sale, but English Heritage lost its seven-month campaign to save Monkton. Apparently the National Heritage Memorial Fund deemed it ‘not of sufficient interest’ to warrant funding. It was bought by a private buyer without its contents which were auctioned off. A truly unique property was lost.

Up next: Las Pozas

01/12/2026

Edward James and Rene Magritte

Edward James became an important figure in Rene Magritte's life for a short period of time from 1936-1938. James would remain friends with Magritte for many years but his role in supporting Magritte in 1937 and 1938 was paramount.

James was introduced to Magritte by Dali. During Magritte’s participation in the 1936 International Surrealist exhibition, James hired him to do three large paintings for his London house’s ballroom. The three paintings are now considered some of Magritte’s best work. The three are "Not to Be Reproduced" (La reproduction interdite) in 1937, "The Red Model" in 1937 and "Time Transfixed" in 1938.

"Not to be Reproduced" shows James looking into a mirror with a copy of a Edgar Allan Poe novel on the mantle. Although the book’s image is correctly reflected in the mirror, James’s is not. "The Red Model" combines the ordinary images of a pair of shoes with feet.
"Time Transfixed" has a steam locomotive coming out of a fireplace.

Magritte made another portrait of James in 1937 titled "The Pleasure Principle". It shows James sitting at a table but this time his face is obscured by a bright light like the light from a flash camera.

Pictured are two photos by Man Ray that Magritte used as models for that painting. It is interesting to see how he tried the rock on both on James’s left and right hand sides. He also changed the tie from a patterned one to a sold red. The other curious thing is that on the photo with the rock at James’s left hand the desktop has outlines on it for positioning the rock and James’s right hand. Notice James’s right hand in the blowup photo, what are all the drawings on his hand all about? I haven’t a clue.

After 1938 James remained an important supporter and collector of Magritte's work but James no longer sponsored the artist.

Up next: Monkton

01/10/2026

Dali and Edward James
Collaborative Effort

In 1936 Dalí stayed with James at his London home, where they developed a number of ideas for Surrealist objects and furniture for James’s Monkton House. Among those were:

Mae West Sofa
It was James who suggested that they create a sofa based on Dali’s 1935 work. James had five different versions built before choosing one and had a matching pair made. One of these sofas sold in 2016 for ₤725,000 ($948,000).

Champagne Coupes Lamp
Dali and James designed a standard lamp that was formed using ten oversized golden champagne coupes on a base decorated with gold ivy tendrils, berries and leaves. Six of the stacked champagne coupes conceal removable ashtrays. A pair of these lamps sat alongside the Mae West sofas at James’ home, Monkton. The pair sold in 2016 for ₤425,000 ($553,000).

Lobster Telephone
Myth has it that at a party at James’s London house one of the guests threw the remains of a lobster tail that happened to land on a telephone. That gave Dali and James the idea for a unique surrealist object. The truth is that Dali came up with the idea (see photo of Feb 1935 American Weekly) and James facilitated bringing Dali’s idea to life. James had a total of 11 made for use at his home in London and West Dean. Seven were white on white and the other four were a red lobster on a black phone. In 2018 a white one sold for ₤853,000 ($1,115,000).

Each of these works is considered one of the best in their respective category of furniture, lighting and surrealistic object.

Up next: James and Magritte

01/09/2026

James and Dali

Dali and James met in person in Cadaqués in 1934/5, and they immediately formed a relationship that would greatly benefit both parties.

What James supplied that was different than Dali’s earlier benefactors. Dali’s original benefactor was the Zodiac Group that was created in France in 1932 and consisted of 12 patrons who each sponsored Salvador Dali for one month of the year. In exchange, they would receive a work of Dali’s art during that same month.

In the summer of 1936 a contract was drawn up between Edward James and Salvador Dalí. James would receive virtually all of Dali’s artistic output in exchange for a generous allowance, a deal which lasted until the end of 1938. James did this in the belief that if Dalí was made financially comfortable he would be at liberty to fulfil his creative potential, unhurried and without the demands of the commercial market. He was proven right since Dali created some of his most memorable work during this period.

Besides supporting Dali financially James supplied the clout that only big money can bring. For example,

The 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition held in London at the Burlington Galeries was underwritten by James.

The 1939 World’s Fair pavilion was the idea of architect Ian Woodner and Julien Levy. It originally was to be a “Surrealist House” and would feature the works of many different European Surrealists. James stepped in and underwrote the venture and had it become a Dali only project.

Through those early years James benefited from the relationship by being able to build an incredible collect of Dali art, the subject of another post.

Up next Collaborative Effort

01/08/2026

The story of Edward James

An unsung hero of Surrealism is Edward James. He thought of himself primarily as a poet yet his innovations in art, design and architecture mark him as an unrecognized visionary of the twentieth century. He championed and supported outsider art and artists. He arrived on the scene at precisely the time Surrealism was pushing to become international in scope. Through his financial support he helped them achieve that goal. Besides Dali, he supported the careers of Rene Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst and many other artists. He financed Minotaure, the Surrealist publication. Yet, if you Google the term “modern art patrons” his name does not appear.

Dali once said of James “He’s crazier than all the Surrealists put together. They pretend, but he’s the real thing!”

Edward James was born to William James and Evelyn Forbes. William James (1854 - 1912) was a son of a self-made American millionaire. He was raised and educated in England. He was a well-travelled explorer, photographer and sportsman. Evelyn Forbes (1867 - 1929), was the daughter of a Scottish baronet. She became a great society host, and was a close family friend of Edward, the Prince of Wales. In 1907, after four daughters, Evelyn and William James had a son named Edward Frank Willis James (1907 - 1984); his godfather was King Edward VII who was a regular visitor to West Dean, the family home.

At the age of 25 he inherited the family’s 6,350 acre estate called West Dean and a fortune that he was to use to create and support the arts throughout his life. This series of posts will include:

Dali and James
Collaborative Effort
Rene Magritte
Monkton
Las Pozas
West Dean House
The James collection and auction
As they used to say on radio, stay tuned!

01/07/2026

Sometimes we forget

We’re used to seeing Dali in all kinds of situations. We see photos of him painting a masterpiece or surrounded by an adoring crowd or rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. Perhaps sometimes we tend to forget the old idiom “he puts on his pants one leg at a time, just like the rest of us”.

Shown here is a picture taken by Enrique Sabater of Dali and his housekeeper Paquita in his kitchen at Port Lligat. The photo shows Dali as an “average Joe” just sitting around in the kitchen with a magazine in hand watching something on the TV.

Another one I like of Dali being “human” is this one of him doing a bit of grooming. The photo appears on the cover of a Bon Art magazine.

We need to remember that when the cameras stop rolling and the crowd is gone and our idols enter their home, they are just like the rest of us, just people.

01/06/2026

Desert Flower
William Lightfoot Schultz the founder of Shulton Inc., the makers of Old Spice toiletries, had acquired Leigh Cosmetics and was relaunching and expanding Leigh’s Desert Flower brand of products. In 1946 Dali was commissioned to produce paintings and an advertising program for "Desert Flower", the company's new fragrance. Dali worked on the project from June to September in Pebble Beach. He produced three paintings and several studies for the project. The three paintings are:

Mirage
The painting has been described as follows: “A mirage is an illusion. So too might love, seduction and s*x appeal. Remaining young may also be largely an illusion.”

In the painting a faceless lady is plucking a desert flower from the head of the ancient sculpture of the Apollo Belvedere, who is being propelled towards her on marble tram tracks. Above him is broken arches, staircases that lead nowhere, stone buttresses, classical ruins and a depiction of the entrance arch to the ancient stadium of Olympia.

Oasis
Dali described this painting as “The visible lovers. At the approach to the oasis, Apollo and Venus materialize in empty space. By grace of the desert flower, they rise into view from the aridity of the rock.”
Once again Dali uses classical Greek elements in a dreamscape laden with a sense of mystery.

Invisible Lovers
Christie’s describes the painting in their 1999 20th Century auction catalog as follows:

Depicted are the two "lovers" solely by their footprints and their silhouettes which are outlined against the horizon by rock formations that are reminiscent of the coastal cliffs of his native Cadaques, Dali presents a meticulously crafted desert landscape at twilight that has been infused with a mysterious and romantic sense of pathos. Dali described this painting as follows: "Two lovers are imprisoned in the mystery of limitless space, romantic essence of the desert. Of one of the fossilized footprints of the feminine lover is born the dandelion, echo of the moon, symbol of femininity and purity." (Salvador Dali, exh. cat., M. Knoedler and Co, New York, 1946)

At the forefront of the painting stands a desert flower blooming in the space between the two lovers. A symbol of their union and of the romance of the desert, it too, like the figurative rock formations and the dandelion whose seeds are caught in the wind conveys a sense of temporality and the fleetingness of human existence. Standing almost alone in this desert wilderness it can in many ways be seen as the main subject of the painting.

In addition to the three paintings there was one pencil drawing (photo), a watercolor (photo) and one showing the three painting on a wall in an office setting (photo).

Only one of the three paintings made it into ad print and that was “Invisible Lovers”. Pictured is the magazine print ad for it, a 1947 department store ad and a 1964 Department store ad where all three paintings were to be displayed. The final hurrah for the trio came in the late 1990’s when they were all sold at auction to different buyers.

The best of the three, Mirage, was purchased in 2018 by the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia) with the help of crowd funding and tap and go donations by museum visitors. It’s a new world out there folks!

01/05/2026

I’m back! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Unfortunately, the wife and I experienced severe colds and I do mean severe. We are mostly better now and did enjoy a belated Christmas with family.

It is truly amazing the things you stumble upon on the internet. Take for instance this little oddity that I found while looking for something else. It is an ad for a Salvador Dalí - Surrealist New Year’s Eve Costume Party. The party was put on by a company called Time & Place. They regularly put on lavishly themed dinners at various venues around the St. Louis area. Unfortunately, you are too late for this Dalí event since it took place in 1973 but 100 lucky people who ponied up $300 a head got to attend the event. Geeze, I miss all the good stuff!

Dali Magazine Mall

01/17/2026

01/16/2026

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