‘The
Persistence of Memory’ Salvador Dali
Dali described his most
famous and powerful work, The Persistence of Memory (1931), as being
a "hand-painted dream photograph". This painting features melting watches,
an image that is often interpreted to depict a world in which time has
become distorted.
Salvador Dali is, without
doubt, the most famous member of the surrealist group. His painting, The
Persistence of Memory almost stands alone as a symbol of the movement.
The melted clocks represent the strange warping of time which occurs when we
enter the dream state. The stretched image of a man's face which is at the
center of the painting is believed to be that of Dali himself, and the
landscape which stretches out behind the scene may perhaps represent his
birthplace, Catalonia.
