the persistence of memory by salvador dali

Dali has painted the insects so precisely that they seem “almost machine-like,” which contradicts the rest of the context of the painting since machines like the watches seem to have taken up the biological characteristics of living beings. Traditionally, in the history of art, Dali’s painting has typically been positioned as a still life.

Like Dali’s other paintings from this time, the ants and flies in The Persistence of Memory are symbols of degeneration and deterioration. Considering the “embryo-like shape” of this figure, the title of the painting could be referring to prenatal memories (Moorhouse 49). This figure has a shape almost like an embryo, which is suggesting the fact that Dalí was fascinated with Frued’s psychoanalytic theme of people unconsciously remembering memories from their time inside their mother’s uterus. This sleeping figure is perhaps suggesting that falling asleep is the only way to access this dreamscape depicted in this painting. This figure seems to be asleep and this further emphasizes the fact that the landscape in which it is lying is actually a dream world. Based on Dali’s The Great Masturbator (1929), this figure or profile that looks like a distorted face with no identifiable features apart from an that is closed with oversized eyelashes is actually a self portrait. The melting of the watches is perhaps a representation of “the relativity of space and time” (Ades).Ī rather characterless and formless shape occupies that is lying on the beach occupies the center of The Persistence of Memory. The watches also seem to represent the fact that man is obsessed with “the nature of time” (Wilson). According to Nathaniel Harris, by placing these watches Dani conveys the message that human beings are universally preoccupied with memory and time (Harris). It is apparent that the watches are a representation of time itself. By depicting the coming apart of machine and time, Dali is challenging the audience’s belief in a logical, natural, and organized world. However, the painting seems to refute their content, and the way they are painted so softly makes them even more meaningful. Primarily, the melting watches in the painting act as compelling symbols of “ime’s wingèd chariot hurrying near” (Marvell). There are a lot of alluring and eloquent images in The Persistence of Memory however, the melting watches are perhaps the most fascinating and significant of them all. “ immaculate precision” (Secrest) of the painting has been particularly admired, which makes its dreamlike scene seem realistic, and can be regarded as Dali’s homage to his teacher Jan Vermeer, who was legendary master of photorealism. In fact, the painting depicts “autonomy of color and brushstroke” (Anfam 421). This painting like many of the Dali’s other surrealist paintings, which he referred to as “hand-painted dream photographs” has explicit, sharp details and the brushwork is almost invisible. The landscape of the painting is actually Port Lligat, a Mediterranean village that where Dali lived most of his life and often included in his paintings. Dali has visibly set the renowned melting watches in the landscape of the painting. The painting also tends to have a “jewel-like intensity” (Anfam 420).

The Persistence of Memory is a small-sized oil-on-canvas painting and is not really as big as many imagine it to be. However, according to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), these “baffling” qualities of the painting, especially the watches, are its “highest praise.” The painting is among Dali’s works that he himself referred to as his “hand painted dream photographs.” The audience of today can read the paining as landscape, self-portraits and a self-portrait, all at the same time. Even the hardness and softness in the painting create confusion. The reason this painting has always been increasingly appealing, and has both encouraged and perplexed analysis and explanation is because Dali has effectively combined the dreamlike and the everyday, the illogical and symbolic, technology and nature. This painting served as a means of introducing Surrealism in conventional America. Salvador Dali painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931, and today it is regarded among the 20th century’s most acclaimed and remembered paintings.

The persistence of memory by salvador dali