Which country did Dalí move to in 1940 during World War II?

Salvador Dalí moved to the United States in 1940 during World War II. Dalí and Gala left Europe as Nazi Germany advanced, reaching the United States at a time when the war had made artistic and personal life increasingly dangerous in France and Spain.

They remained in the United States for roughly eight years, making the country a major setting in Dalí’s career. New York’s galleries, department stores, publishers, film studios, and wealthy collectors helped him expand his public profile beyond the European surrealist movement. He also worked on illustrations, stage and window designs, film projects, and writing.

The American period is sometimes reduced to Dalí’s celebrity, but it also produced important professional opportunities. He published his autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí, in 1942 and collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on dream imagery for Spellbound. Dalí returned to Europe in 1948, settling again largely in Spain. A common mix-up is confusing this wartime relocation with his earlier visits to the United States, including his 1934 trip to New York.