The Persistence of Memory, 1931 by Salvador Dalí

About Salvador Dalí: 

Even today, this Catalan painter is still considered as the undisputed master of Surrealist trompe-l'oeil painting. His paintings are packed tight with colour and symbolism, fluttering between the fiendish and the unconscious, and transforming elements from dreams into mysterious visual puzzles.

About The Persistence of Memory: 

The Persistence of Memory, 1931 (above), is a prime example. It was first shown in public in 1931 at Pierre Colle's gallery in Paris, then acquired in 1934 by the Julien Levy Gallery (New York), and in the same year an anonymous buyer purchased the painting and gifted it to the Museum of Modern Art (New York).

Here we see a bare landscape with a high horizon and a mountainous coastline into the sea. At the centre lies an amorphous entity. In the foreground on the left, a kind of podium rises up, out of which grows a tree stump with a melting watch handing from a branch. Similarly shaped watches are draped over the podium and the amorphous entity. Ants crawl over a gold pocket watch, and a fly stops on the surface of the watch over the podium. If you take a closer look, you would find an egg lays on the distant shore on the top right.

This painting indeed demonstrates a rare technical ability. Beneath the bravado, there is substance, where we meet a man who knows exactly how to use his brush with a combined expertise of Flemish accuracy and Old Master painting.

Fun Facts: 

1. Despite its significant impact on the art world, the painting is small in size, about 24 x 33 centimetres. (9.5 x 13 inches)
2. The coastline shows features that recall Dalí's home town of Figueres. The rugged cliffs, for example, resemble Cap de Creus.
3. Dalí's discovery of his trademark shape of the melting watches was through a very mundane experience, namely looking at a hot, runny Camembert cheese.
4. This shape of melting watches recall that of floppy tongues, expressing a deep-seated fear of impotence that tormented Dalí. However, this fear did not undermine his love for Gala (Elena Ivanovna Diakonova), soon later became his muse and his mistress.
5. The amorphous entity at the centre represents a stylized self-portrait of Dalí albeit without a mouth.

Have a look at our Featured Items below!