*It should be noted that I only just learned that the creature in the center is a person and not a horse. These elements that give off an almost eerie vibe are almost certainly what drew me in years ago and the reason that this work has persisted in my memory. However, I think that it could represent that people are a slave to time because the person is positioned under the watch.ĭali’s use of design elements typical to surrealist art aided in conveying the meaning that he wished to. This symbol has been interpreted as the passing of time that a sleeper experiences. Dali also uses an abstract figure to represent a person. I interpret this to mean that Dali was challenging the idea of time and was conveying the idea that time is a man made concept that is inherently faulty. Dali portrays time as melting clocks, which represent the relativity of time. Dali’s asymmetrical approach is what makes this phenomenon possible.įinally, the most interesting part of this painting are the symbols used. This is especially interesting because as English, or in his case Spanish, speaking people, our eyes are naturally drawn from left to right yet, in this painting, our eyes are drawn from right to left. The focus of Dali’s piece is concentrated to the bottom left of the painting. There is nothing symmetrical about this painting, and that’s why it’s so fascinating. The juxtaposition of light and dark is especially important here because the light of the person like creature in the center is in direct contrast to its dark background, which is why our attention is drawn to the creature first.įurthermore, the asymmetrical nature of this painting helps to create unity. He uses the light to draw the viewers’ attention to the focus of the painting. The most notable and noticeable design element that Dali uses is light. This iconic painting introduces the image of the soft pocket- watch the. It was here that he created his most famous painting, ‘The Persistence of Memory’. The first summer that Dalí spent in Port Lligat, Figueras in 1931 marked him for life. With my understanding of visual literacy, I’ll finally be able to understand why The Persistence of Memory has always piqued my interest. A Brief History of The Surrealist Image - The Persistence of Memory. To this day I am still awestruck when I look at this painting. I was immediately taken by it every time that I had art from the ages of five to fourteen, I would gaze at Dali’s piece in awe. I saw this painting for the first time when I was five in my school art room.

The persistence of memory spanish name