“The Persistence of Memory”

(1931, 24 x 33 cm, oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York) 

The second work in the exhibition is Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory” (1931), one of the artist’s most iconic works and a masterpiece of Surrealism. The painting depicts a dreamlike landscape of melting clocks, with a lone figure in the foreground, and bizarre imagery. Through the use of unexpected juxtapositions and disorienting perspectives, Dali creates a sense of disorientation and unreality that reflects the Surrealist fascination with the irrational (Johnson, nd). The painting is an example of Dali’s exploration of the subconscious mind, and the use of imagery that is both unsettling and fantastical. The melting clocks are a powerful symbol of the fluidity of time, and the painting as whole challenges our assumptions about reality and the limits of perception.  

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