Philippe Halsman, Dali Atomicus, 1948. TIME Magazine recently listed Dali Atomicus as one of "The Top 100 Photographs of All Time". In a world before Photoshop, it took the ingenuity of Salvador Dali and photographer Philippe Halsman—plus some deft cat-throwing—to produce this gravity-defying scene. Digital print on 10" x 7.5" glossy photo paper from the Magnum Photos archive. Philippe Halsman copyright Magnum Photos, in lower right corner. Fine condition (with small imperfections). So when Halsman set out to shoot his friend and longtime collaborator the Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, he knew a simple seated portrait would not suffice. Inspired by Dalí’s painting Leda Atomica, Halsman created an elaborate scene to surround the artist that included the original work, a floating chair and an in-progress easel suspended by thin wires. Assistants, including Halsman’s wife and young daughter Irene, stood out of the frame and, on the photographer’s count, threw three cats and a bucket of water into the air while Dalí leaped up. It took the assembled cast 26 takes to capture a composition that satisfied Halsman. And no wonder. The final result, published in LIFE, evokes Dalí’s own work. The artist even painted an image directly onto the print ahead of publication. One of the most influential photographers of the 20th century along with other photographers of his time such as: Man Ray, Ansel Adams, Edward Steichen, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Walter Evans, Eugene Smith, Diane Arbus, Eve Arnold, Robert Doisneau, Helmut Newton, Josef Sudek, Andreas Gursky, among many others.