The Persistence Of Memory

The Persistence Of Memory - Salvador Dali

My gut reaction to the painting based on my own subjective opinions is that it represents the nature of time. To me, the artist is telling us that time waits for none. The melting of the clock indicates that no matter what is happening in one’s life at a particular instant of time; it is not permanent. That time in one’s life will pass. So one should never be too invested in something that happened during a particular period of time. For instance, a person must not be too egoistic and haughty about an achievement, that time will pass one day. That fame or success will fade someday. Similarly, if a person is suffering from something very bad, he should not completely lose himself to his misery because that too will pass. The desert tells me that this place that is shown here, is a place where time has faded. It is a higher level of understanding of the subconscious where things (the truth, our internal turmoil etc) become clearer because our thoughts are not dictated by the fear of time (past, present or future). Everyone can make clearer decisions when they are not stuck in the past, present or future. The ants covering one of the stopwatches are a prime indication of this (to not give importance to a particular time in our lives too much). The tree in the painting is not growing from the earth. This is unnatural and it might be indicating once we lose our fear of time  (of time running out, or a particular time period never coming etc), we might be able to accomplish things we never thought we could.


The Persistence Of Memory by Salvador Dali is surreal art. Surreal art is art which usually shows something that would never exist in reality. But they can have a profound philosophical meaning at the same time. It encourages the viewer to widen his horizon and think deeply. Surreal art takes our mind beyond the realms of reality. Surreal art could be compared to something that might appear to someone in a strange dream. Somewhat meaningless yet meaningful at the same time. The idea of Persistence Of Memory by Salvador Dali is rumored to have to come from cheese melting in the sun. Many theories have been given about this painting including one that says it is related to Einstein’s Theory Of Relativity. Salvador Dali is said to have used his hometime Catalonia as landscape inspiration for this painting. After this painting, Salvador Dali painted - The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory.


The Persistence Of Memory falls in the category of surreal art. This type of artwork is not expected to look very realistic. Yet the artist has attempted to give a 3D effect to the objects in the painting as if to show that these objects are really resting on the shown surface. The following colors are primarily used in this painting - brown, white, yellow ochre and faded blue. The colors are not vibrant. There are somewhat faded and aim to give a vintage effect. Each object has a proper outline that enables the viewer to identify them separately. Smooth straight lines and perfect curves have been used. The shapes of all the objects are well defined and clean. The objects are not given realistic sizes though (For instance, the stopwatches are larger than how they are in real life). The colors are blended beautiful which enriches the aesthetic appeal.

3 MELTED CLOCKS: The 3 melted clocks represent the nature of time. Most people live in past or with fear of the future. We end up living, and rushing through life and die never having truly lived. We will find our true sense of being at the moment when the notion of time has faded away from our minds. We must exist in the silent isolated moment that is - now. Our deep fears about what is to come should not consume us. We now must not be dedicated to our tomorrow. That is the only way we can truly feel the present moment. Similarly for the past. And when we are at this stage in our lives where we can simply let go, we will achieve clarity. The 3 melted clocks are also luxurious objects. This might be a way of Salvador Dali telling us that most of us are chasing after the wrong things and these will fade away and not matter to us in the long run. With time all superficial things will lose its value.

CLOCK WITH ANTS COVERING IT:  This clock is different from the rest. I believe that its presence is a strong enhancement to the message given by the other clocks. Do not give too much importance to a particular time period in life. Don’t be too affected by a particular period of your life. The ants covering the stopwatch indicate that these creatures or any animal, for instance, has no notion of time. They live a wholesome life without being caught up in any instance (time period) of their lives. It is only us humans that have set so many time-related rules for ourselves. A youngster is expected to achieve certain goals before he enters adulthood. A young adult is expected to have made certain achievements before entering middle age. A middle-aged man is supposed to prepare for his retirement.  These are just a few examples of how huge the concept of time is in the human life. And when this isn’t entirely a bad thing, it could generate a huge amount of pressure in human life.

TREE:  The tree in the painting is growing from an unnatural place. In real life, a tree would not be able to grow from there. Associating the message of the clocks to this, I feel that Salvador Dali’s mind wants to tell us that once we lose our fear of time and gain clarity, we will be in a position to achieve the things we thought impossible. It is our fears that hold us back. Many people are stuck in a routine (time) and are afraid to break this routine and come out of their comfort zone. Many people in an attempt to be cautious of the future life their lives according to a certain plan. These can lead to people leading mediocre lives. When you don’t care about the outcome and don’t let past mishaps hold you back, you might be able to create something magical out of your life.

LANDSCAPE: The landscape in this picture is what seems like a desert (there is no greenery). There is water in this area though. There is light and there is darkness as well. This landscape could be Salvador Dali’s place of serenity in his mind. It is not luxurious, beautiful or extravagant. But it clear, peaceful and serene. The landscape is meant to deliver the message that in the place where the concept (or fear) of time has faded, one would gain clarity. One will have everything he needs and nothing more (because the landscape has basic necessities like water, light, and darkness.

WHITE CLOTH/CREATURE: This element of the painting cannot be connected to any real object. It is not a human but it seems to have something similar to eyelashes. Else it is like a fabric but fabric can’t have eyelashes. This to me indicates the dreamer. The dreamer is asleep with his eyes shut. He is completely calm and comfortable

The moral and ethical values we get from the painting is that a person should not be a servant of time. He should not let the mistakes of his past or fear of the future affect his present negatively. These things could affect our morals. For instance, a bad experience in the past with something can lead us to be cynical today. The melted clocks indicate that time will fade. We should not be at the mercy of time. 

The title of the painting Persistence Of Memory talks about memory being persistent somehow. This title fits into the theme of the painting that people tend to hold on to their memories persistently and let them influence their life. The painting itself offers a philosophical solution to this by saying that time will fade (not persistent in reality). The fact that Salvador Dali painted The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory after this painting gives a new insight. In The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, the old landscape is replaced by the same on flooded by water. This has lead to speculation that both paintings could be related to concepts of physics about the atom. This reduces the idea of surrealism in the painting.