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"The Sacrament of the Last Supper" (1955), explores two of Dali's post-war thematic subjects: religion and nuclear weapons. The painting was controversial partly because the artist depicted the face of Jesus as his wife Gala. ter placated her, and the Dalis stayed on. The year 1945 was an especially productive one for Dali. He spent nearly 10 months of that year at Pebble and produced nearly 20 paint- ings—an astonishing number, given the precision and detail he infused into his work. In addition, during this period, Dali illustrated a translation of "The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini," a work originally completed in 1563 by the renowned Italian Renaissance artist. He also worked on the dream sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's film "Spellbound," released that same year. Also in this time frame, Dali met the actor Burgess Meredith (later to por tray the Penguin on the classic original "Batman" television series) and his wife Paulette Goddard. Meredith had become friendly with John Steinbeck and the author's pal Ed Ricketts (the model for "Doc" in "Cannery Row") while filming "Of Mice and Men." The actor approached Dali with the idea of producing a surrealist film and enlisted Ricketts to help scout locations in southern Monterey County. Neal Hotelling relates what happened on that journey. "Ricketts, Dali, Burgess, and Goddard got lost and, seeing a light on in a small house next to a school, knocked on the door to ask for help. Imagine the surprise of a country schoolteacher opening her door only to see two famous movie stars and a renowned Spanish painter." Nothing became of the film, but that teacher had a great story to tell. "The Enigma of Desire or My Mother, My Mother, My Mother" (1929), is considered to be among the painter's most important and deeply personal paintings. C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 97 Photo: Peter Horree /Alamy Stock Photo Photo: Peter Barritt /Alamy Stock Photo