Death of Artist Salvador Dali

When I read about the death of Dali, I remembered a happening in connection with him, which I believe occurred in 1947.

Ernst van Leyden, a Dutch painter, lived in a house on Barrington Avenue. His property included a big barn and stables. My son Albert, 10 at the time, kept a horse and several sheep there. Van Leyden called me in West Los Angeles one morning, asking whether my son would rent two of his sheep to Dali the next day.

Dali offered to pay $10 and Albert readily agreed, provided no harm should come to the sheep. We were all curious about what Dali planned to do with the sheep.

Early Sunday morning we went to the barn. Dali looked like a cartoon. He was small with a funny waxed mustache and was wearing a brown velvet coat. He moved fast.

Dali had rented a kind of crane, which he placed behind the barn. On one of its arms, about 8 feet high, he had a platform hanging with a table and a chair on it, and on the table a big plate filled with slices of white bread.

He asked my son to make slings for the sheep. He raised the sheep up 3 to 5 feet. An actress sat on the platform with the bread. A large group of people arrived--all seemed like intellectuals, writers, painters, actors, etc.

The actress recited poetry, sang songs and threw slices of bread at the crowd. The people participated and laughed. This was the end of the performance.

Can you detect any sense in it?

ALFRED WALDINGER

Monterey