Halsman Archive File 10 -Dali "Sentries" 1954

Philippe Halsman had a wild creative streak that he explored over 37 years with his friend Salvador Dali, which resulted in iconic portraits of the artist, as well as images which have transcended the realm of photography and become recognized world wide. This Dali file is from the 1954 sitting for the book _Dali's Mustache_ -A Photographic Interview, where Halsman asked a question on one page, and Dali answered it on the next page in the photograph. The question “Why do you wear a mustache?” has a two part answer. The first answer is “In order to pass unobserved.” with a photograph of an invisible Dali holding his visible mustache. On the next page Halsman says: “As usual, I don’t follow you. What do you mean?” and the following page shows the photograph of a tightly cropped photo of Dali’s face where his mustache tips cross infant of his eyes, with the caption: “Like two erect sentries, my mustache defends the entrance to my real self.” This iconic photograph of Dali has appeared on and in countless books, and inspired the masks in TV series “Money Heist.” In the file we discover the 4x5 contact sheet with the red china pencil showing Halsman's tight crop marks.