salvador dali painting the persistence of memory meaning

It is a self-portrait of the artist and is present in many of his works. The head, located in the center of the picture, is also in the power of these processes. Soft, shapeless, hanging from a tree and flowing down a hard surface, it symbolizes the relativity of the concept of time, its ability to flow in different directions, returning to the past and transferring to the future. First of all, they are, of course, clocks. I’d like to start describing the The Persistence of Memory by exploring the characters that are present here in large numbers. The artist questioned the very nature of time: its linearity seemed unobvious to the painter, and the complex nature of this phenomenon was emphasized by the variety of images on the canvas. However, Dalí himself claimed that, regarding the creation of The Soft Watches, he relied more on the statement of Heraclitus – 'Everything flows, everything changes'. Many researchers associate the idea of creating this work of art with the popularity of Einstein's relativity theory. Tormented by a headache, he was going to sleep, but suddenly an image of the watch melting down from the branch of olive, inspired by the thoughts about the nature of melting cheese, occurred to him.ĭespite the poor state of health, the brilliant painter took his brush and finished one of his most famous works that same evening.Īnalysis of the painting The Persistence of Time According to the artist, after dinner, he decided to look at the canvas before going to bed.Ī depicted landscape seemed to him just a basis for a deeper plot the picture obviously needed some idea. Evidently, the firmness of the principles of this theory the painter associated with granite rocks. Despite the view of the cape, there was a withered olive in the picture – the dead truncated branch. He considered the Catalonia coast, located near his native town Figueres, a place which is an embodiment of the creation theory of all his strange paranoid symbols and metamorphosis. This cape is depicted on many of the artist’s works. The other started work, The view of Cap de Creus, served as a basis for The Persistence of Memory, every detail is important to analyse it. Changeable shape and flexibility of cheese contributed to the emergence of strange associations in the artist’s mind, that he immediately reproduced on a canvas.

It is considered, and the artist admitted himself, that the image of the soft clocks was inspired by the thoughts about a Camembert cheese with which spouses finished their dinner. Referring to a terrible headache, he remained at home. The Soft Watches (an alternative title of the work) was painted in a couple of hours, while the artist's wife was in the cinema with her friends. The artist loved this painting, and his wife, Gala, said that “ once a person sees it, they will never forget it.” The picture itself is surprisingly small, this shows the personal nature of the artwork. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí, the main images of which are clocks, was painted in 1931.

Here he portrayed himself and the olive tree, and ants, and egg, and many other symbolic things that wander from work to work.Ĭreation history of The persistence of memory by Salvador Dalíīefore talking about the meaning of a particular work, it would be interesting to find out under what circumstances it was painted and what contributed to the emergence of certain images. The process of creating an artwork is always interesting for both researchers of the artist and the public, since this information gives the opportunity to learn more about the artist, his personal life and environment. Since the artist did not often explain the meaning of his works, there is enough space for thoughts while analysing The Persistence of Memory, but some of the imageries are quite common for Dalí. The art critics of all times has always been discussed about what is depicted on it. One of the most famous paintings by Salvador Dalí, and probably the most personal, judging by its size and images imprinted on the canvas, is The Persistence of Memory. Works by Dalí can be either admired or rejected, but they can't be taken with indifference, as they allow to take a fascinating journey to the corners of the artist's inner world. He encoded his unconsciousness, Freud's psychoanalysis, childhood trauma and adult complexes in his works. His paintings correspond exactly to the main characteristic of the direction: the reality and images from the dreams are closely interweaved in one plot. Dalí can be called the most prominent surrealist, whose paintings cannot be confused with the works of other artists. Surrealism began in the twenties of the last century: the brightest representatives of this direction can be found in literature, cinematography and, of course, in painting.

Salvador dali painting the persistence of memory meaning