adaques, Spain, has been home and/or playground to probably every
artist of note of the past century, including Picasso, Max Ernst, Marcel
DuChamp, Luis Bunuel, John Cage, Garcia Lorca, David Hockney, Richard Hamilton,
Rene Magritte, Juan Miro, Man Ray, Walt Disney, and even Albert Einstein,
who went there on holiday to play his violin.
Adding to its many attractions at the time of Venosa's arrival was the presence
of the great Maestro himself, Salvador Dali, with whom Venosa was fortunate
to spend many interesting moments from his first visit in July, 1972 until
Dali's departure from Cadaques in 1980. As Venosa writes in Noospheres,
"Contrary to expectations, Dali was quite accessible. All you had to
do was get him on the telephone - which was easy enough as he was listed
in the local directory - and answer his first question which was always,
'Are you beautiful?' If your reply was a confident 'Yes!' you would be invited
to show up at his Port Lligat home at 7:00 p.m. to sit beside his phallic-shaped
swimming pool and drink pink champagne with aristocrats, vagabonds and some of the most interesting people you'd ever hope to meet. This was Dali's ever-changing nightly court, which, of course, always included entertainment: Gypsy flamenco dancers and singers; a group of lithe and lovely ballerinas, who, at Dali's suggestion, would disrobe and dance in the nude; jugglers, magicians and ranting prophets; and always the itinerant troubadour inspired to peak performance by the presence of the great Dali.
Afterward, an elite group of ten or twelve would be selected to accompany
the Maestro to his large table at El Barroco restaurant, where the fiesta would
continue deep into the night over racks of lamb, Crema Catalana and an endless
fountain of Perelada wine and champagne. These were memorable evenings indeed."
 |
