Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Persistence of Memory, 2002 (1931)

Offset lithograph, heavy satin paper (300g), 60 x 80 cm
"Persistence of Memory" (Spanish: "La persistencia de la memoria") is Salvador Dali's most famous painting. The world also knows it as "Persistence of Memory," or "Soft Clocks." It was created in 1931 as an oil on canvas measuring 24×33 cm. Initially, "Persistence of Memory" was exhibited at the Pierre Colle gallery in Paris, and since 1934 it can be admired at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
The painting is one of the best-known symbols of surrealism and pop culture. The composition of "Persistence of Memory" is mixed, in which the artist used surrealism, surprising juxtapositions, dreaminess, as well as chiaroscuro. The color scheme of the painting is subdued as well as calm. Browns, blues, whites and blacks predominate.
"Persistence of Memory" by S. Dali combines elements of reality and fantasy. This painting depicts three deformed and melting pocket clock faces with a seaside landscape in the background. The fourth clock in the color of old gold, eaten by ants, remained closed. The painter placed it in the lower left corner of his work. In the middle of the painting, just below the dissolving dial of one of the clocks, you can recognize a human head, which is most likely a self-portrait of the Spanish artist.
Dali created his painting in a very surprising way and freely combined various objects. The elements on the canvas of "Persistence of Memory" were arranged in such a way that we have the impression of a large space and emptiness. Thanks to his lush imagination, Dali divided all the details into "soft" (clocks) and "hard" (coastal rocks).
The soft clocks are limp and dissolve like overripe camembert cheese, which the painter consumed that same evening, pondering philosophy and the problems of "super-softness" ("paranoid-critical camembert"). The mysterious landscape in the background of the clock faces is Port Lligat on the coast of Catalonia, where he and his beloved Gala most often vacationed. Ants are a recurring motif in Dali's paintings. They symbolize decay and attack the mechanism of time, the golden pocket watch, which is a metaphor for the transience of human existence.
There are many interpretations of the title of this work by S. Dali. One of them says that it is meant to reflect the most common impression it makes on its viewer, that is, to leave a lasting mark in his memory.