The Meaning of The Persistence of Memory
One of the greatest artwork of Salvador Dali paintings is the “The Persistence of Memory. The Persistence of Memory painting was created in 1931. The painting has become famous because of the fact that it’s unrealistic and has got multiple interpretations.
The shapes and objects in the painting are heavily distorted into something unrecognizable. In fact, the painting is difficult to read and different people can have totally different views on the painting.
The Persistence of Memory
This piece of Salvador painting was created with rich philosophical and psychological element. You can see this magnificent artwork at the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation and Artists Rights Society Museum in New York City.
Influence of Salvador Dali Hometown in Spain
The Persistence of Memory was drawn based on Dali childhood experience in Port Lligat, Spain. Port Lligat is the place where Dali was born and raised as a child. As a result, the painting was under the great influence of the background of his hometown. Many objects in the painting involve the common landscape of his hometown.
For example, the beach and rocky landscape in the painting are speculated to be part of Port Lligat. The experience of Dali in his hometown as a child has probably served as the foundation for the Persistence of Memory painting.
The Melting Clocks
Other strange elements in the painting are the melting clocks. You can see several of them in the picture. One of them is hanging on a tree branch while another one is lying on a wooden cube.
What’s unique about these clocks are that they are like a soft piece of pizza or cheese that are extremely flexible. The interpretation of these flexible clocks is that time is like a piece of cheese that is flexible and can be easily twisted.
Dali has also pointed out that time is like cheese with multiple holes. It’s speculated that time is unreliable and memory can be deceiving according to Dali.
The Bright and the Dark Side
If you observe carefully, a portion of the painting is covered by light while some other parts are in darkness. Under these two contradicting conditions, there lie two similar rocks. You can see one rock located to the left of the tree while the other one is right below the rocky hill on the right.
Although these two rocks are identical, there is a significant difference. One is well lit while the other one is in darkness. We can see that there is a shadow associated with the rock in the bright side of the painting.
One speculated interpretation of this condition is that the rock on the bright side of the painting is similar to our memory in terms of accuracy. Memory is very accurate when it comes to memorizing irrelevant details.
Swamp of Ants
There is a melting clock in the lower left corner of the painting that seems to be under the attack of a swamp of ants. The ants seem to be eating away the clock which is often interpreted as time is being taken away.
According to Dali’s critiques, the attack of the clock by the ants represents fear and anxiousness related to short amount of time.
Salvador Dali’s Own Interpretations of the Painting
Dali often kept his lips tight or gave unrealistic as well as incorrect interpretation of his paintings. The reason for doing this is often thought that Dali was trying to confuse critiques and paintings enthusiasts.
There was no bad thing about it according to most critiques. It’s just the way Dali liked to encourage painting enthusiasts and his followers to present different meanings and interpretations of his artwork. He probably liked to hear what each person has to say about his paintings.
November 12th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
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November 13th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
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November 4th, 2011 at 12:01 am
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January 6th, 2012 at 12:23 am
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