Two Eccentric Superstars: Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol

This course celebrates two of the most subversive and successful artists of the 20th century: self-proclaimed genius Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) and self-effacing genius Andy Warhol (1928–1987). We will study their complex courtship and rivalry, characterized by both men’s affinity for showmanship and extravagance and a strong instinct for publicity. When the two met in New York in the 1960s, Dali was already an icon of the modern art world, and Warhol was eager to follow in his footsteps, sharing Dali’s unabashed obsession with fame and money. Dali's surrealist masterpieces had by then challenged traditional notions of reality, and Warhol’s pop art was beginning to propel celebrity and consumer culture into the realm of high art. Through their intriguing personalities, eccentric behavior, and carefully manufactured appearance, as well as their propensity to create shock value and garner wide attention, Dali and Warhol achieved notoriety and international fame beyond the art world, as they put their stamp on film and commercial products. The two also shared a love for the Big Apple, where they separately held court, each of them surrounded by his coterie of groupies and devotees. To this day, their works are prominently displayed in Manhattan's greatest museums and regularly fetch record prices at auctions. Special attention will be given to the two artists’ forays into the world of cinema. Bob Colacello’s Warhol biography,  Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up , which uncovers the intricacies of the relationship between the two superstars, will accompany our study.

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