You might get arrested ...." Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, a Surrealist, first met American photographer Philippe Halsman in New York City in 1941, when the photo agency Black Star assigned Halsman to photograph the installation of one of Dalí's exhibitions at the Julien Levy Gallery in April.

[3][7] The two met again in October, when Halsman photographed the costumes Dalí made for a ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House.

[7] A photo Halsman took on a city rooftop, of the ballerina Tamara Toumanova with another dancer dressed in an oversized rooster costume, had elements of surrealism common in Dalí's own visuals.

[3][9] Halsman was not as keen on that specific idea, and the two later decided to have furniture, water, cats, and Dalí himself appear suspended in midair for the picture.

[1][10] Commenting on the photo's composition, The New York Times art critic Roberta Smith remarked: "For once Dalí's characteristic look of exaggerated surprise makes sense.

[1][4][a] After every take, Halsman went into the darkroom to develop and print the film, while the assistants collected and dried the cats.

[10] After the final photograph was chosen, Dalí painted, directly on the print, to produce the image shown.

[3][13] Willing subjects included Audrey Hepburn, Ed Sullivan, Grace Kelly, Harold Lloyd, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Jack Dempsey, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Nixon, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

[3][13][10] Halsman called the practice "jumpology", and explained how it allowed him to better capture the true character of his photographic subjects: "When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping, and the mask falls, so that the real person appears.

[4] The New York Times called Dalí Atomicus "probably Halsman's most memorable single work".