Salvador Dalí Gets a Screen Test by Andy Warhol (1966)

The Sur­re­al­ist is ready for his close up, Mr. Warhol. Are you ready for him?

As pre­vi­ous­ly not­ed on this site, Andy Warhol filmed near­ly 500 “screen tests” in the mid-60s. He was­n’t look­ing to dis­cov­er unknown tal­ent or cast an upcom­ing movie. His inter­est seemed to stem more from voyeurism, the col­lec­tor’s impulse, and his fix­a­tion with glam­our. The major­i­ty of his cel­e­brat­ed sub­jects, obey­ing Warhol’s instruc­tions, refrained from ham­ming it up on cam­era.

Report­ed­ly, Bob Dylan was a bit of a diva.

But it was not until Sal­vador Dalí faced the lens that the mak­er met his match…twice. The Muse­um of Mod­ern Art doc­u­ments the Span­ish artist’s fla­grant dis­re­gard for Warhol’s stric­tures, while also spec­u­lat­ing on Warhol’s response.

And yet, some­thing soul­ful does come through in the clip above. Is Dalí emot­ing? Or is the shim­mer­ing back­ground melody by Arman­do Dominguez the inspi­ra­tion for Des­ti­no, a Dali-Dis­ney ani­mat­ed joint that took 57 years in the mak­ing?

Relat­ed Con­tent

Sal­vador Dalí Reveals the Secrets of His Trade­mark Mous­tache (1954)

Des­ti­no: The Sal­vador Dalí – Dis­ney Col­lab­o­ra­tion 57 Years in the Mak­ing

Andy Warhol Dig­i­tal­ly Paints Deb­bie Har­ry with the Ami­ga 1000 Com­put­er (1985)

Andy Warhol’s ‘Screen Test’ of Bob Dylan: A Clas­sic Meet­ing of Egos

Ayun Hal­l­i­day will let you know if she makes it to Pitts­burgh for her screen­test if you fol­low her @AyunHalliday