The Persistence of Memory

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The Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dalí, 1931
oil on canvas
24 × 33 cm, 9.4 × 13.0 inches
Museum of Modern Art, New York

La persistencia de la memoria (1931) or The Persistence of Memory is quite possibly the most famous painting by artist Salvador Dalí. The painting has also been popularly known as Soft Watches, Droopy Watches, or Melting Clocks. It is currently displayed in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, where it has been since 1934.

1 The painting
2 Cultural References
3 See also
4 Resources
- 4.1 External links

[edit] The painting

[edit] Description

The well-known surrealistic piece introduced the image of the soft melting pocket watch. It's possible to recognize a human figure in the middle of the composition, in the strange "monster" that the same Dalí called the "paranoic-critic camembert": it's a head (probably a self-portrait of the artist). In general the tree means life, but, in this case, has the same function of the rest of the elements in the picture: to impress anxiety and, in a certain way, terror. The golden cliffs in the upper right hand corner are reminiscent of Dali's homeland, Catalonia.

[edit] History

The painting was first exhibited in Paris at the Galerie Pierre Colle in 1931, where it was purchased by the New York gallerist Julien Levy for $250. In 1933 it was sold to Mrs. Stanley B Resor, who donated the piece anonymously to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1934.

[edit] Impact

The painting soon became the best-known of Dalí's works, and has frequently been reproduced in postcards, posters, and other media. By 1938 it was so much a part of popular culture that versions of Persistence appear in the background of the animated cartoon Porky in Wackyland.

[edit] Versions

Dalí returned to the theme of this painting with the variation The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1954), showing his earlier famous work falling apart into component parts and a series of rectangles; this work is now in the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, while the original Persistence of Memory remains at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Dalí also produced various lithographs and sculptures on the theme of soft watches late in his career.

[edit] Cultural References

In a classic series episode of Doctor Who, The Edge of Destruction, the ormolu clock in the console room begins to melt to warn the TARDIS crew of danger. A reference to this painting.

In the video game EarthBound, one of the enemies seen briefly in the game is a "Dali's Clock". The image of the enemy is a melting clock with eyes, and somewhat of a sad look. The enemy's main attack is freezing time, allowing itself to repeatedly strike his enemy. Additionally, the enemy sometimes appears together with another enemy, "Abstract Art".

In the 75th issue of the X-Men spin-off Comic Wolverine when Jean Grey and Professor Xavier enter Wolverine's mind, melting clocks can be seen in the background.

In the Futurama episode "I, Roommate", Bender folds an alarm clock and places it on the table much in the fashion of the painting.

A painting partially resembling The Persistence of Memory in the Beavis and Butt-Head episode "Butt is it Art?"

The painting is also parodied in the 5th series (1986) Garbage Pail Kids cards, Dangling Dolly and Surreal Neal. [1]

In an episode of Hey Arnold!, Helga has a surreal dream sequence in which she walks through a landscape similar to the painting, remarking nonchalantly, "Why are all these clocks melting?".

The melting clocks are also found in an episode of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon.

In The Simpsons episode no. 222, "Mom and Pop Art", Homer finds himself in a dream sequence in which he is inside several famous paintings, among which is The Persistence of Memory.

The melting clock motif appears prominently in the music video for the Brad Paisley country-western song "Alcohol".

This painting is a favourite of Lu En Qi in the Taiwanese drama, "Love of the Aegean Sea". He is given a print of this painting by his fiancee Yi Qian.

The 11th episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is entitled The Persistence of Memory.

The PC game Chessmaster 4000 Turbo includes a chessboard featuring one corner of the board itself melting along with a melting white king and several melting clocks.

In Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck into the painting. While there, their shapes start melting and deforming like the clocks in this painting. Even Elmer spoke in rebus "S-T-O-P, O-R I'-L-L F-I-R-E!".

In the algebraic topology textbook Homotopic Topology by A.T.Fomenko the deformation of a mapping cylinder to its base is illustrated by a parody of the the painting.