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Persistence of Memory

The painting Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali contains surreal elements that reflect psychological theories of Freud. It depicts a self-portrait next to melting pocket watches on a landscape, representing the distortion of time in the unconscious mind. Dali uses techniques from Vermeer and Carriere to create blurred shapes and establish communication between objects placed in an environment where they do not belong, reflecting his observations of the light and landscapes in Cadaques, Spain. The precise image of ants on a watch face and a leafless olive tree branch cut off from its tree are among the surreal elements in the painting.

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Ginelle Marvida
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611 views

Persistence of Memory

The painting Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali contains surreal elements that reflect psychological theories of Freud. It depicts a self-portrait next to melting pocket watches on a landscape, representing the distortion of time in the unconscious mind. Dali uses techniques from Vermeer and Carriere to create blurred shapes and establish communication between objects placed in an environment where they do not belong, reflecting his observations of the light and landscapes in Cadaques, Spain. The precise image of ants on a watch face and a leafless olive tree branch cut off from its tree are among the surreal elements in the painting.

Uploaded by

Ginelle Marvida
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Persistence of Memory, 1931 by Salvador Dali

The Persistence of Memory contains a self-portrait over which is draped a 'soft watch'.
For Dali, these 'soft watches' represent what he called the 'camembert of time', suggesting that
the concept of time had lost all meaning in the unconscious world. The ants crawling over the
pocket watch suggest decoy, an absurd notion given that the watch is metallic. These 'paranoid-
critical' images reflect Dali's reading and absorption of Freud's theories of the unconscious and
its access to the latent desires and paranoia of the human mind, such as the unconscious fear of
death alluded to in this painting, Dali increased the effect produced even more through the use of
techniques stemming from the precision of Johannes Vermeer to the blurred shapes of Carriere.
Once he had given an emotional autonomy to his protagonists he established communication
between them by depicting them in space - most often in a landscape - thus creating unity in the
canvas by the juxtaposition of objects bearing no relation in an environment where they did not
belong. This spatial obsession derives from the atmosphere of Cadaques, where the light, due to
the color of the sky and of the sea, seems to suspend the course of time and allows the mind
through the eye to glide more easily from one point to another. The Persistence of Memory is
an excellent example of the foregoing and contains the following elements:

1) Perhaps the most confusing element of the scene is an anthropomorphic object laid on the
ground. This face-like figure is interpreted to be a self-portrait of the artist: Dalí is known for
both his unconventional self-portrayals, like Soft Self-Portrait With Grilled Bacon, and his one-
of-a-kind depictions of not-quite-human faces, like the figure in his painting, Le Sommeil

2) The watches, which he says are:"nothing more than the soft, extravagant, solitary, paranoiac-
critical Camembert cheese of space and time... Hard or soft, what difference does it make! As
long as they tell time accurately.

3) The precise image of ants in the sunshine. A leafless olive tree with its branches cut.

4) The landscape. For the person who does not know the region where Dali lives, the violence of
the color might seem excessive. It is nothing of the sort. On the contrary, this vivid color renders
exactly the effect of the light in the sky, on the sea, the seashore, and the rocks. The later cannot
be specifically located; they are the generalization of all the landscapes Dali had seen and
painted before. His great merit is to have succeeded in synthesizing the ideal coast by use of
familiar rocks and coves, thus giving the spectator the illusion of having seen them before.
10 Facts that You Don't Know About "Persistence of Memory"

1. Despite its memorable subject matter and significant impact on the art world, the painting
"The Persistence of Memory" is only slightly larger than a sheet of notebook paper, or
approximately 9.5 x 13 inches.
2. Many art historians emphasize that the central figure in the painting is a self-portrait of Dali.
However, the figure, which has human characteristics such as eyelashes as well as a free-form
shape signifies metamorphosis, as do the clocks that are morphing from solid to liquid.
Metamorphosis is a key concept in the Surrealist movement, reflecting the transformative power
of dreams.
3. "The Persistence of Memory" alludes to the influence of scientific advances during Dali's
lifetime. The stark yet dreamlike scenery reflects a Freudian emphasis on the dream landscape
while the melted watches may refer to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, in which the scientist
references the distortion of space and time.
4. The pocket watches are not the only references to time in the painting. The sand refers the
sands of time and sand in the hourglass. The ants have hourglass-shaped bodies. The shadow that
looms over the scene suggests the passing of the sun overhead, and the distant ocean may
suggest timelessness or eternity.
5. The painting, which Dali completed in 1931, has made its home in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York City for more than 80 years, having been donated in 1934 by an
anonymous patron.
6. Three of the clocks in the painting may symbolize the past, present and future, which are all
subjective and open to interpretation, while the fourth clock, which lies face-down and
undistorted, may symbolize objective time.
7. The egg that lays on the distant shore is symbolic of life, which, like memory, has the
potential to persist despite the breakdown or distortion of time. The egg also epitomizes the
artist's obsession with the juxtaposition of hard and soft during his Surrealist period.
8. The insects in "The Persistence of Memory," a fly on one clock face and the ants on the face-
down clock, variously signify death, disintegration and/or a parasitic relationship with time.
9. Dali's painting combines three art genres: the still life, the landscape and the self-portrait. A
somewhat similar self-portrait appears in an earlier Dali work entitled The Great Masturbator.
However, in "The Persistence of Time," the figure appears to be either dead or sleeping.

10. The denuded, broken branch in the painting, which art experts identify as an olive tree in the
context of other Dali artworks, represents the demise of ancient wisdom as well as the death of
peace, reflecting the political climate between the two World Wars as well as the unrest leading
to the Spanish Civil War in Dali's native country.
Persistence of Memory, 1931 by Salvador Dali

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