Letters
Fishy tale
Sir: May I be allowed to add a footnote to the 'Fishy tale' (Letters, 12 June) about the Surrealist Exhibition of 1936 in Burlington House, which I well remember? My visit took place on an occasion when Salvador Dali, dressed in a diving suit with a large fretted ornament — not a poached egg, as has sometimes been said — on top of the helmet, entered at speed, drawn by an enor- mous hound, or hounds, on a leash, and gave the audience an exposition of sur- realism. The main theme of his discourse seemed to be the eating of a wardrobe by an artist in Paris in circumstances which I cannot recall.
Perhaps I saw the exhibition on an occa- sion subsequent to that recorded by An- thony Powell, when William Walton affix- ed a bloater to a painting of a kipper. My clear recollection is that a box of kippers, together with drawing-pins, was placed below the picture with a notice inviting viewers to attach kippers to it. No one had yet done so, but my companion, Pelham Box (who died soon afterwards), accepted the invitation with glee. After careful study he selected, placed and pinned his kipper most judiciously. Perhaps this arrangement was the result of Sir William Walton's sur- realistic gesture, to which the Surrealists themselves would have been enchanted to respond.
H.A. Crowne
Winswood Cottage, Cheldon, Chulmleigh, Devon
Previous page
