Salvador Dali Persistence of Memory: Meaning of the Melting Clocks Salvador Dali Persistence of Memory: Meaning of the Melting Clocks by K Shabi PUBLISHED 29 May 2013 A surrealist painter, the Spanish Salvador Dali is one of the most enigmatic artists of the twentieth century. Known for his weird and outlandish subject matter, Dali's most famous work of art is probably The Persistence of Memory (1931), often called just "Clocks" and widely regarded as a Surrealist masterpiece. But what is the meaning behind Salvador Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory? What do all of those melted clocks mean? Salvador Dali & the Surrealists The meaning behind Surrealist Salvador Dali's artistic masterpiece The Persistence of Memory (1931) is not easy to grasp. In the painting, four clocks are prominently on display in an otherwise empty desert scene. While this might seem uncanny enough, the clocks are not flat as you might expect them to be, but are bent out of shape, appearing to be in the act of melting away. In classic Surrealist manner, this weird and unexpected juxtaposition poses a lot of questions right upfront.

First off, why are these clocks melting? Why are the clocks out in the desert? Where are all the people? Since the subject matter and content of the Salvador Dali's clocks painting seems illogical or irrational, one might be surprised by the very representational and nearly photographic quality of the painting, fitting well with Dali's own description of his art as being "hand-painted dream photographs." The concept of the "dream" is integral in understanding Surrealism and plays a key role in the meaning of The Persistence of Memory, as well. Surrealist Art and the Importance of the Dream State Coming up with the best visual representation of what it is like to be dreaming was one of the main goals of the Surrealists. In the beginning, Surrealism might seem a little crazy, but we've all had dreams where unrelated people, places, or objects come together in completely inexplicable ways. Understanding that Persistence of Memory most likely depicts a dream state is the first part of coming up with a meaning for this painting. Salvador Dali Clocks Meaning in a Dream If Persistence of Memory depicts a dream state, the melting and distorted clocks symbolize the erratic passage of time that we experience while dreaming.

Have you ever woken up and expected it to be still the middle of the night and are surprised to find that it is already morning? While we often are pretty good and keeping track of what time it is while we go about our days, keeping time while we are asleep is another story. There are many different ways to interpret the meaning of Persistence of Memory. If we look at the art through the perspective of a dream state, the distorted clocks don't have any power in the dream world and are melting away because of that. In Persistence of Memory Salvador Dali illustrates how useless, irrelevant, and arbitrary our normal concept of time is inside the dream state. During our daily lives, we're always rushed and busy, trying to get all of our work done on time. Many art scholars debate over whether these timepieces are clocks or in fact pocket watches, very popular accessories in the 1920s and 30s, when the Surrealists worked. The Surrealists laughed at most things middle-class society takes seriously, and that includes the importance we place on things like pocket watches that mark passage of time.

Salvador Dali Soft Clocks Meaning, Einstein & Relativity Some art scholars believe that Dali's melting clocks may symbolize Albert Einstein's groundbreaking Theory of Relativity, a new and revolutionary idea back in the culture of the 1930s. Through the theory of relativity, Einstein proposed a new concept of time as being relative and complex--not something fixed and easily tracked with as crude a gadget as a pocket watch. In Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali shows the clocks melting away and thus losing their power and stability over the world around them. Through his melting clocks, Salvador Dali might be saying that simple machines like wall clocks and pocket watches are primitive, old-fashioned and even impotent in a post-Einstein world. Surrealism and Humor: Persistence of Memory Meaning The dream state is very important in Surrealism, but jokes, humor, sarcasm and wordplay are also central to Surrealist art. Salvador Dali uses sarcasm in the title of the clocks painting, Persistence of Memory to add a darker meaning to the painting. as we've discussed, the clocks are losing their power in this dream world.

They are literally melting away, and thus seem anything but "persistent" in Dali's depiction. Likewise, the ants eating away the face of the red clock also symbolizes the decaying and therefore impermanent nature of our arbitrary way of keeping time. Autobiographical Meaning of Persistence of Memory The desolate landscape where the clocks melt is also barren and infertile. Some art scholars notice the resemblance that this and other Salvador Dali landscapes have to his own beachfront hometown of Port Lligat. The possibly autobiographical meaning of the painting's title Persistence of Memory could very well refer to Dali's own memory of his own childhood surroundings. An autobiographical reading could account for the abandoned and uninhabited quality of the landscape in the painting, not visited since Dali's childhood. One watch hangs on a tree branch like laundry left out on the line to dry; the branch is not flowering or covered in leaves and green, but is sapped and dried out. Dali painted The Persistence of Memory at the age of twenty-seven years old.

If we are looking for the autobiographical meaning of Persistence of Memory, the clocks might be representative of his adolescence and are fading or melting away because Dali cannot remember them accurately now that so much time has passed. Salvador Dali Persistence of Memory Meaning: Salvador Dali's Melting Clocks The Persistence of Memory is perhaps the most famous Dali painting, with its iconic "melting clocks" becoming the icon of Surrealism and one of the most recognizable pieces of art of the twentieth century. While we cannot know for certain the true meaning, interpretation or analysis that Dali himself intended for his painting, it is likely that Dali himself recognized and developed the different shades of historical, artistic, social and autobiographical meaning encrypted into his artwork. The real meaning of Persistence of Memory is most likely some combination of them all. Image credit: Salvador Dalí. (Spanish, 1904-1989). The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Oil on canvas, 9 1/2 x 13" (24.1 x 33 cm). © Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Photograph taken in 2004. LEGOMENON: Art Beyond Sight: Art History Through Touch and Sound Insights and analysis Background on Surrealism and Salvador Dali In 1924, the French write Andre Breton announced the birth of Surrealism, a movement in painting that emphasized the unconscious. Surrealists were interested in presenting a more profound reality revealed by the unconscious mind. They wished to produce images that went beyond mere painting to reach a new level of reality. In their experiments, dreams became important sources of inspiration, and enigma or mystery played a major role. The Spanish artist Salvador Dali was one of the best known Surrealist painters. He lived from 1904 to 1989. In 1929, Dali joined the Surrealist movement. He was an outrageous and eccentric personality. For example, at the opening of a Surrealist exhibition in London in 1936, Dali appeared in a diving suit. Throughout his lifetime, Dali's extravagant and humorous behavior generated wide publicity, eventually securing him celebrity status. However in 1942 André Breton officially expelled Dali from the Surrealist movement because of this self-promoting activity.

The titles of Dali's two autobiographies tell us much about his personality. They are called The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, published in 1942, and Diary of a Genius, published in 1965. Although Dali garnered attention through his provocative exploits and theatrical behavior, his paintings were central to the development of the Surrealist aesthetic. Dali's ambition was to "materialize images of concrete irrationality with the most imperialist fury of precision." Dali painted images from a dream world in such exacting clarity and meticulous detail that viewers feel they are entering a hallucinatory landscape. He called these paintings hand-painted dream photographs. They contain strange and bizarre juxtapositions of objects, and the transformation of one form into another form. For example, objects we know as hard and solid appear soft and malleable. Or inanimate objects appear alive and conscious. It's as though the normal laws of physics no longer apply to the people and objects in Dali's created world, much like the irrational and unpredictable world of the dream.

We'll see many of these strange transformations in Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory, but first, we suggest listening to a short interpretive sound composition that evokes the essence of Surrealism. Verbal description of The Persistence of Memory This painting is a horizontal rectangle and is only slightly larger than a piece printer paper. The setting for this painting is a rather bleak landscape. We see a sandy beach in the foreground and middle ground that appears dark, like it's in shadow. The beach stretches toward the background, where it eventually reaches a body of still water, probably a lake or ocean. This body of water meets the horizon line. The sky above the horizon is featureless, with no clouds, sun, birds, or anything. On the painting's upper-right side, there are jagged, rocky cliffs extending down into the water. In the left foreground, there is a large rectangular form, like a solid box, serving as a table. In the middle ground, directly in front of us, there is a strange organic form, which at first glance appears to be an animal lying on its side. Then we realize the form doesn't look like anything we've ever seen before.

Four pocket watches are placed in this strange scene, three of them appearing to melt into soft, malleable shapes. The natural illumination in the painting tells us the time of day is either late afternoon around dusk or early morning around dawn. We know this because the band of yellowish light near the horizon line tells us the sun is just below the horizon line. The foreground is relatively dark compared to the distant horizon line. The colors in the painting are dark brown in the foreground sand, yellow in the rocky cliffs and horizon line, and aqua blue in the sky, the thin sliver of water in the background, and three of the four watches. There are very few objects in this painting. Most of them are quite strange. This strangeness contributes to the mystery of the landscape. Let's consider these objects. First, there's a box-like rectangular form in the lower-left portion of the painting. On top of it are two watches and a dark, dead tree trunk standing straight up. One of the watches drapes over the edge of the box. Part of the watch rests on the top surface of it, and part of it drapes down over the right side.

The watch looks as though it's made of melting wax and is beginning to lose its solid form. Another way to describe it is to think of the round pocket watch as a limp pancake hanging over the side of a table. Another watch is placed on the top of the box with its face down. This means we cannot see the numbers or the hands of the face. Instead, we see the gold casing of the back of the watch. This watch is orange, and black ants are crawling over the surface of it. The ants appear to be feeding on the watch as though it's organic and edible. A third watch is draped over a limb of the dead tree. Like the melting watch on the box, this hanging watch is also pliable and limp. Imagine it as a pancake folded over the limb and hanging down. The watch's face is toward us and its back is to the limb. We can see the numbers three through nine. We can see the hand on the watch and it points to the number six. But we cannot tell whether it's the minute or hour hand. Behind the tree and near the water's edge is a flat board. It's not clear why the board is there or what it means.

In the center of the painting is a large, fleshy, animal-like creature with the fourth watch draped over it. The creature is grayish and seems to be lying on top of a rock. This creature is stretched horizontally across the sand. It's a soft, pliable form. The creature's head is on our left, and its tail is on our right. We see its profile, which faces the painting's lower edge. The head has a human-like nose and long eyelashes. The head appears to be a distorted human profile. We can recognize a tongue, which hangs out of its mouth, eyelashes, and a closed eyelid. The body of the creature appears smooth and featureless, as though it's a cross between a fish, a dolphin, and a human. This animal-like form shows no signs of life. This figure is an example of metamorphosis, a device Dali and other Surrealists used to merge human, vegetal, and animal forms into a single unit. It occurs often in Dali's work. Back to top Insights and analysis Each object in The Persistence of Memory is painted with exactitude and is very recognizable. But this scene would not be found in real life.

Such a combination of objects comes from the dream world. Everything looks real in the painting. Yet we know that it cannot be real. This deliberate confusion of real and imagined is central to the premise of Surrealism. In earlier periods of western art it is possible to find isolated examples of this kind of imagery. But Surrealism is the first time these ideas are cogently expressed as an attempt to represent the unconscious mind. As in a dream, these strange combinations of elements have the power to evoke feelings and psychological states not normally available to us in everyday experience. Consider the experience of this painting. The viewer must pass through the more sinister foreground and middle ground to reach the serene background of this painting. In the background, the cliffs in the water are very beautiful, but they show no form of life. There is no movement on these cliffs. The water is also absolutely still. There are no waves in the water, and the image of the cliffs is clearly reflected on the water's surface. It's serene and peaceful in the background, and there is no evidence of human presence. The foreground and middle ground, however, do show evidence of humans. The large rectangular box-like form. The flat board at the edge of the water. And the clocks of course.

But why is the tree dead? Why are there no plants or grasses growing in this barren place? Why has measured time, signaled by the watches, stopped and melted? Why do the ants seem to be feeding on one of the watches? Why are insects the only active creatures in this landscape? And what is the animal-like or humanoid form in the center of the painting? Why are the watches so large in comparison to the dead tree and the animal-like, humanoid form? There are no answers to these questions. The world of this painting is ruled by an irrational order. It is disquieting and haunting. We return to the painting again and again to try to figure out the puzzle. But, as in a dream, no solution is offered. Salvador Dali Paintings Salvador Dali Paintings Salvador Dali was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist painting. Here are listed 62 pieces of Salvador Dali Paintings. - Salvador Dali - Cubism, Dada, Surrealism Movement 1904 - 1989 About Salvador Dali: The Spanish Catalan surrealist Artist, Salvador Dali was born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain.

In 1931, Salvador Dali painted one of his most famous paintings, The Persistence of Memory. Sometimes called Soft Watches or Melting Clocks, the painting introduced the surrealistic image of the soft, melting pocket watch. The general interpretation of the work is that the soft watches debunk the assumption that time is rigid or deterministic, and this sense is supported by other images in the work, such as the wide expanding landscape and the ants and fly devouring the other watches. Browse all Salvador Dali Paintings Salvador Dali Paintings - Handmade Canvas Art Reproductions Salvador Dali Melting Clocks - YouTube Salvador Dali Melting Clocks Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Apr 25, 2013 Have you ever heard of Salvador Dali Clocks? Perhaps the most well-liked clockwork art work throughout history could be the clocks by Salvador Dali. His melting clocks have created a whole variety of clocks.

His eye-catching clocks has been utilized in several art work designs, but his surreal works of art which seem like clocks melting or distorted were initially brought to life by Dali, capturing the world's imagination. Dali was born in Spain in 1904 in an area known as Figueres, Spain. Dali's very early work was mainly charcoal drawings influenced by the artist Ramon Pichot. Overtime Dali started to get a great deal of recognition after adopting a style which he coined Cubism. In the course of his time at Art academy he was expelled because he felt his instructors were not sufficiently good to judge his work. Everything about Dali was artistic including his appearance. Dali wore a handlebar moustache that he often modelled in different ways. There is even a famous photograph of flowers attached to the end of his moustache. Dali was influenced by several things such as the famous painters Picasso and Raphael. As his own style evolved he became well known for his surreal illustrations. His utilization of timepieces in his pictures has influenced clock manufacturers to develop melting clocks which often can be placed on shelves drooping downwards. They are well-liked and available from many merchants.

The Salvador Dali melting clock is from The Persistence of Memory (novel). The melting clock is in the painting by Salvador Dali and is amongst his most well-known pieces. It was painted in 1931. The painting was first shown inside the Julien Levy Gallery in 1932. Since 1934 the art work continues to be shown in the museum of Modern Art in New York, where it's one of the more popular exhibits. The image represents a soft melting pocket watch. The melting watch is said to illustrate Dali's theory of 'hardness' and 'softness' this was part of his thinking at this stage in his career. It was thought at the time that Dali's creativity originated from Albert Einstein's theory of Relativity. However when Salvador Dali was asked about this, Dali declared that actually the soft watches or clocks were not influenced by Einstein's theory but by the surrealist imagination of 'Camembert cheese melting in the sun.' It is said that the human figure in the centre of the art work is actually Dali himself. The abstract nature of the painting became something of a self-portrait. He often did this on his other works.

The orange decorated clock in the bottom left hand corner has ants upon it. Dali painted ants to symbolise dying in his paintings. The figure in the heart of the piece of art symbolizes a 'fading' animal. This is said to display that in dreams, the dreamer can't generally recognize the composition or form of a creature. The animal in the artwork has lots of eyelashes and one closed eye possibly showing the animal is also in a dream state. The painting could be interpreting Dali's dreams where the timepieces show the passing of time as one experiences it throughout sleep, or how dreams might feel to us. The jagged rocks on the right hand side of the art work is based on the end of Cap de Creus peninsula within the north of Catalonia. In a great many other of his works you can see creativity of Catalonia landscapes which inspired him. The darkish shadow in the background of the painting is reference to Mount Pani. In 1954 Dali returned to his famous painting the Persistence of Memory with the Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory. This revealed his earlier renowned painting breaking up into fragments, together with an assortment of rectangular shapes with breaks in between and more melting clocks.

Also in1954 Dali created another renowned stop-watch piece of art titled 'Soft Watch at Moment of First Explosion' showing a soft watch breaking up. With pieces of watch and debris close to the watch it gives the look its disintegrating. The painting was a lot like the 'Persistence of Memory' with the back ground being a desert and sea scape. In this picture the clock dominates the artwork with the stopwatch sagging over a block shape. In the 1970's Dali began creating a range of clock timepiece creations. Each including clock faces. They include the usual melting time clock face. 'Stillness of Time' which was created in 1979 shows a golden rimmed clock with a flexible, bendy clock. The clock is apparently wearing some kind of crown; interestingly the clock has tree branches and roots. Dali created a similar piece called 'Tearful soft watch Giclee' displaying a stop watch hung over a leafless tree.

Category 1000+ images about The Persistence of Memory - Salvador Dalí on Pinterest | Famous art, Ea and Indiana jones Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas The Persistence of Memory - Salvador Dalí 9 Pins125 Followers Salvador Dails The Persistence Of Memory Analysis Art Essay Salvador Dails The Persistence Of Memory Analysis Art Essay Published: Last Edited: 23rd March, 2015 This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. The Persistence of Memory is a surreal landscape created in 1931 by the famous Spanish artist, Salvador Dali. This oil painting measures 9 1/2 x 13 inches, or 24.1 x 33 cm and is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). It has been displayed in galleries worldwide and is a symbol of Dali's work. The Persistence of Memory contains a light blue horizon, which slowly fades downward from blue to yellow across the top quarter of the painting. Under the skyline sits a body of water, or what looks to be a large lake or a reflecting pool.

The body of water traces the skyline until it interacts with neighboring mountains to the right. In front of the mountains there is lone pebble. On the left close to the water, Dali places a reflective, blue, elevated, rectangular platform with dark brown trimming around the edges. Placed in front of this platform, there is another single pebble. A lifeless tree with a hollow top, is in front of it, missing all of its leaves and branches but one. The single branch holds a silver pocket watch which appears to be melting on the end of the branch showing the numbers three through nine. Only one hand of the watch is shown, pointing at the 6. The tree is located on top of a light brown square object that looks desk-like. The brown object takes over the bottom left corner of the painting, and even goes off the canvas. On this object there are two more pocket watches residing. One of them is gold and melted, hanging half way off the light brown cube. The hands of the gold watch are stopped at five of seven and there is a fly on the face near the 1 o'clock mark. The fly is also casting a very small shadow, which is shaped more like a human.

The other pocket watch is bronze and shut. The exterior of the pocket watch is covered with a swarm of black ants. Unlike the other clocks, this is shut, and the only one that is not warped or melted of the four. The ground in The Persistence of Memory is a dark brown that almost turns black in certain areas. On it lies a white figure on its right side with another silver-colored melting clock on its back. The white figure is human-like, with over emphasized large eyelashes. It has a what looks to be a trade mark Salvador Dali moustache and lips where eyebrows would be on a human face. Its nose is flared and has another small brown object coming out of the right nostril. The white figure has no limbs or other human-like characteristics. The rest of the scenery around the white figure is dark and barren. The Persistence of Memory uses the basic elements of art including a plethora of lines, values, shapes, form, colors, and texture (Glatstein). The lines that Dali uses in the painting vary on the shape which he is working with. Most of the painting contains lines that are relatively thin and similar in width, with the exception of the mountains, and the eyelashes of the white figure.

The lines on the mountains are noticeable, and give them a rough realistic approach. On the white figure Dali uses different lengths and widths to create individuality in each lash. He also makes everything detailed down to the very last ant on the bronze watch. The lines that make up the watches are so detailed that they even show each number on the faces. The use of lines also improve the realistic look of the reflection of the mountains in the water. The lines on the platform and brown object are straight and symmetric. He does not leave many visible sketch marks in this painting, so it is not clear or easy to distinguish his lines from shading. The lines that he does show usually complement the dark shadows of his surrealist landscape. The values and shading in this painting are very drawn out and detailed. The shadows in Dali's Persistence of Memory are the heart and soul of the piece, creating a universe that has never been seen before. Thick values highlight details and color, giving a three dimensional illusion to this piece. On the tree, the values are implied to create the illusion of bark, while the limp clock it is holding on its branch uses value to create a tarnished and three dimensional effect. The brown object also uses shading to get this effect.

The watches on the brown cube have detailed shading on and around them, and use color to shade and give a shiny effect. The melting one uses a great deal of color on the face, while the watch with the ants draws attention to the insects covering it. The ground is primarily solid brown, with vivid black shadows overpowering the landscape. This stresses the amount of sunlight that is shown in the landscape, reflecting off of other interacting objects. The mountains use a combination of light and darkness mixed with color rather than only black to create this style. Some of the ridges on the mountains are shaded with black, along with other parts of the painting such as the white figure and the brown cube where the two pocket watches are placed. The ants are all black, and have very little shading, while the fly on the other watch only has a blue shadow of a human figure. The white figure has shading throughout its entire body. There is heavy shading on his head, nose eyelashes, and where its body touches the ground. This painting contains a variety of shapes and forms that add to the uniqueness of its style. There are noticeable figures and shapes, and unidentifiable ones throughout the painting.

The blue platform in the far corner is a solid three dimensional rectangle, as is the large brown cube in front of it. In these objects the lines are straight and solid, and although the object is not identifiable, the geometric shapes are (Jirousek). The way that the clocks are melting adds a sense of movement and flimsiness. The mountains are recognizable shapes, along with the body of water surrounding them. The tree is easily identified, as are ants and the fly. The white figure is almost cubist, missing parts and anatomical structures, somewhat resembling a Picasso or Braque painting. It still contains human qualities, like the eyelashes and the nose but lacks a solid form. Many of the objects in this painting interact with others, either resting on or touching. The clocks are an example of this because they almost mold to whatever object they come into contact with. This painting is three dimensional, geometric, and abstract, and does not stick to all traditional shapes or forms (Jirousek). The color scheme along with the shading work to bring the painting to life. The colors are not vivid or bright, but more saturated and dark. Dali uses shadow and color together to create a different experience.

The colors in The Persistence of Memory are primarily warm including a lot of yellow, gold, black, and brown (Warm Colors). The browns on the cube and the scenery range from light to dark. The mountains are a shade of yellow, along with a lot of what the sun touches in the painting. The watches are gold, silver, and bronze and have a shine to them because of the color and shading. There are also cool colors in this piece including blue, white, and silver (The Meaning of Color). The faces of the clocks, tree, the fly's shadow, the sky and water are all a blue tint, working with the warm colors to balance the painting. The texture of the painting mainly focuses on senses such as sight and touch. From smooth surfaces to rough and jagged objects, Dali intensifies the visual experience to create an imaginary sense of touch. The blue platform appears to have a smooth reflective surface, with a rough wooden underside. The tree in front of it has a course exterior with deteriorating bark. The clock on it's weak branch has a flexible but noodle like appearance to it. The large brown object with the other two clocks on top looks smooth and almost wooden.

The pocket watch with the ants on it looks smooth and shiny, but still covered in small black ants. The gold pocket watch looks melted and squishy. The hands on the watch appear to go in every direction and never stay in sync with each other. The mountains in the background look narrow, ancient, dangerous, with noticeable signs of erosion. The water looks still, clear, reflecting the mountains in the landscape. The two pebbles that are separated on the far left and right in the background have a smooth exterior. The white figure's skin is smooth as well, although the shading gives the impression that the figure's body is wavy and ameba-like. Its moustache and lips where his eyebrow appear to be drawn on and unnatural. The large eyelashes have a rough and soft texture, as does his nose and the rest of his face. Salvador Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory, uses a variety of artistic methods and principles (Glatstein). The emphasis of the piece are the four melting clocks scattered throughout the painting. Some may argue that it's his mysterious white figure that draws more attention to the work. The painting carries a strong sense of movement as well.

The melting clocks create an optical illusion, giving the viewer the impression that they are actually dripping metal. The ant colony on the bronze watch also creates a sense of motion as they scatter on its surface. The cracked and crumbling mountains add to this movement too, while the water below and the white figure stay completely still. The use of shadows in the picture builds a strong contrast between sources of light and darkness. The lighting projects emphasis on several objects and builds three dimensions using shadow and color. The contrast also brings the three dimensional illusion to life, giving the painting its distinguishing features. The painting lacks a definite pattern or motif, and the only reoccurring object is the pocket watches. It's scenery changes throughout the piece from geometric objects, to empty space, to mountains. In this piece the vanishing point appears to make sense and the water touching the skyline gives an illusion of distance. The proportion of the other objects in the painting however, do not follow traditional standards. The pocket watches seem ridiculously large and warped in every direction, while the tree holding the silver watch up is similar in size to the pocket watch. The overall unity of Dali's painting brings mixed emotions. The interpretation of the piece always has a critics bias either directly or indirectly.

The Persistence of Memory seems to have a darker impact on people because of its style and subject matter. It is not seen as a cheerful or happy painting, but more eerie and disturbing. According to the Salvador Dali Museum this painting is known to cause fear and anxiety of the unknown surroundings (Clocking in With Salvador Dali). Dali's creation of this painting was not drug induced, but from melting cheese and bizarre dreams (Rochfort). The message Dali is trying to spread is that life is fast paced and full of choices which sometimes produce unfavorable outcomes, but we move on. The clocks are only stepping stones into the real meaning behind the painting. The silver watch on the tree is symbolic of a time which has recently passed (Being second closest to the white figure). The gold watch symbolizes the best years of life slowly escaping. The closed bronze watch with the ants could symbolize a time which the artist wanted to move on and forget. The one on top of the white figure symbolizes the place that he is at now and currently trying to live through. The pebbles painted on opposite sides of the canvas symbolize separation between a lover.

The cracks in the mountains are obstacles that one faces before they can reach a stable point in life and find happiness. The raised blue platform in the back symbolizes the path to a higher quality of life, while the dead tree shows mortality and that nothing lives forever. The fly's shadow in the form of a person could be another symbol of Dali's love escaping, or that he wishes to escape reality. Many sources state that Salvador Dali had fallen in Gala, his only love and muse included in her many pieces (Salvador Dali-A Soft Self-Portrait). This piece defines surrealism, breaking many of the norms previously adopted by artists and critics. The painting itself reflects a lot on Salvador Dali, and the way which he viewed life. His artistic style is incredible, and his "dream photographs" (Clocking in with Salvador Dali) are mind blowing. His use of colors and lighting creates a three dimensional experience that was never seen before. The lifelike qualities and absurd creatures that inhabit the piece make it so good, and separate it from the rest.

It has even been noted that the white figure seen in the painting is a self portrait of Dali, (looking at the moustache above it's eyelashes) (Clocking in with Salvador Dali). The clocks themselves make The Persistence of Memory an iconic piece and have been emulated and parodied in popular culture as well. It surpasses much of the "Modern Art" of its time, involving more talent than just throwing paint buckets at a canvas. I was able to see this painting in person at the Philadelphia Art Museum in 2005 when the Dali Exhibit was on display. The Persistence of Memory Essay - 1062 Words 22 February 2012 The Persistence of Memory Salvador Dali’s 1931 painting The Persistence of Memory is a hallmark of the surrealist movement. Dali famously described his paintings as “hand-painted dream photographs” and The Persistence of Memory is a prime example of that description. The Persistence of Memory depicts striking and confusing images of melting pocket watches and a mysterious fetus-like structure all sprawled over the dreamscape representation of Dali’s home of Port Lligat, Spain.

Dali uses strange images, color, and shadows in The Persistence of Memory to convey an abstract view on dreams, time, and reality. Beginning in the 1920s the surrealist movement sought to present unreal and abstract representations of life by using elements of surprise and non-sequiturs. Dali’s The Persistence of Memory does just that. Perhaps the most recognizable and enigmatic aspect of Dali’s iconic painting is the assortment of melting, oversized pocket-watches. The first pocket-watch is draped over what appears to be a table. Growing out of that table is a barren tree trunk with a single protruding branch over which the second melting pocket-watch is draped. The final melting pocket-watch is draped over a strange, amorphous figure that appears to have an eye. The melting or “soft” character of the pocket-watches provokes much shock and confusion. The melting pocket-watches represent the uncertainty and irrelevance of human perception, specifically time. Similar to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Dali’s pocket-watches illustrate the superfluous nature of time in that although we as humans attempt to quantify it and understand it, time is actually a malleable function of surrounding phenomenon.

Dali uses ambiguity in The Persistence of Memory to evoke feelings of anxiety in the audience. The foreground of the painting shows an amorphous creature with a liquefying pocket-watch draped over it. The figure... Persistence of Memory Essay ...“Persistence of Memory” This is one of Dalis most famous paintings and is called “Persistence of Memory” and also possibly known to be the “most recognizable surrealist painting in the world.” The painting is oil on canvas and was created in 1931 earning him world-wide recognition at just 27. Consisting of 4 clocks (3 of which seem to be melting) the other being over-run by ants as if decaying; a distorted face, possibly of Dali... 402 Words | 1 Pages ...The Persistence of Memory Image: Salvador Dali Word Count: 781 References: The... 835 Words | 3 Pages The Persistence of Memory Essay ...Alyssa Hankins Art 1300 Section 001 9-29-11 The Persistence of Memory Spain, 1931, Salvador Dali creates an abstract oil on canvas portrayal or the knowledge that is gained through ones dreams, visions, and intuition.

The Persistence of Memory, 1931 portrays an abstract view of time and visions that Dali envisioned. Perhaps, his most famous work was The Persistence of Memory, which he painted in his... 916 Words | 3 Pages Salvador Dali- the Persistence of Memory. Essay ...was the surrealism artist leader at that time. Dali was becoming perfect and very detailed in every single one of his masterpieces, through persistence, hard work and his extraordinary talent, Dali became the surrealism artist leader from then on. In 1931 Dali painted probably the most well-known surrealist art works known to man The Persistence of Memory. In this painting we are in front of a surrealistic landscape. It appears to be beach at... 976 Words | 3 Pages Essay about The Persistence of Memory ...The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali is a very surreal painting, which at first appears to snapshot of something someone might see if they were having hallucinations on psychedelic drugs. Everything seems vague and distorted, departed from reality. There are several items that stand out in the painting and lead me to the conclusion that the main theme of this painting is time. We all worry about time, from first thing in the morning thinking...

720 Words | 4 Pages Persistence of Memory ...Persistence of memory Salvador Dali’s purpose in painting the distinctively visual 'persistence of memory' was to show us a self portrait of the subconscious or a psychological portrait to allow the audience to experience his perception that time itself is endless, but our time is short, thus our preoccupation is absurd. Dali himself was best known for his surrealist work and was influenced by the 'surrealist manifesto' written by... 567 Words | 2 Pages THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY Essay ...﻿ THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY BY: SALVADOR daLI Since the subject matter and content of the Salvador Dali's clocks painting seems illogical or irrational, one might be surprised by the very representational and nearly photographic quality of the painting, fitting well with Dali's own description of his art as being "hand-painted dream photographs." The concept of the "dream" is integral in... 317 Words | 2 Pages Essay about The persistence Of Memory Salvador Dali ...﻿The persistence Of Memory Salvador Dali ‘’I don’t do drugs, I am drugs’’ Surrealist Imagery is relevant to today’s society.

This artwork was created in 1931 and formed by the famous artist Salvador Dali. It’s Oil on canvas, 9 1/2 x 13" (24.1 x 33 cm). It is now placed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Surrealism means above and beyond reality. It shows weird, bizarre, dreamlike objects since surrealist artists enjoy depicting the nightmares, dreams and... 440 Words | 2 Pages 1000+ images about Artist- Salvador Dali on Pinterest | Dali, Salvador dali and Salvador Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Artist- Salvador Dali Salvador Dali Paintings Help Salvador Dali Paintings Transform space with your favorite Salvador Dali famous paintings at payable price. We ship worldwide and accept custom artwork in various size. Salvador Dali was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist painting. Here are listed 62 pieces of Salvador Dali Paintings.

- Salvador Dali - Cubism, Dada, Surrealism Movement 1904 - 1989 About Salvador Dali: The Spanish Catalan surrealist Artist, Salvador Dali was born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. In 1931, Salvador Dali painted one of his most famous paintings, The Persistence of Memory. Sometimes called Soft Watches or Melting Clocks, the painting introduced the surrealistic image of the soft, melting pocket watch. The general interpretation of the work is that the soft watches debunk the assumption that time is rigid or deterministic, and this sense is supported by other images in the work, such as the wide expanding landscape and the ants and fly devouring the other watches. Browse all Salvador Dali Paintings, or Sort By:

Question: 'The Persistence of Memory', featuring images of a melting pocket-watch, is a work by which artist?
Answer: Salvador Dali