Dali suffered from paranoia, but without him Dali would not exist as an artist. Dali had bouts of mild delirium, which he could transfer to the canvas. The thoughts that visited Dali during the creation of paintings have always been bizarre. The history of the emergence of one of his most famous works, The Persistence of Memory, is a vivid example of this.
(1) Soft watch- a symbol of non-linear, subjective time, arbitrarily flowing and unevenly filling space. The three clocks in the picture are past, present and future. “You asked me,” Dali wrote to physicist Ilya Prigogine, “whether I was thinking about Einstein when I was drawing soft clocks (meaning the theory of relativity). I answer you in the negative, the fact is that the connection between space and time was absolutely obvious to me for a long time, so there was nothing special in this picture for me, it was the same as any other ... To this I can add that I thought of Heraclitus (an ancient Greek philosopher who believed that time is measured by the flow of thought). That is why my painting is called The Persistence of Memory. Memory of the relationship of space and time.
(2) Blurred object with eyelashes.
This is a self-portrait of a sleeping Dali. The world in the picture is his dream, the death of the objective world, the triumph of the unconscious. “The relationship between sleep, love and death is obvious,” the artist wrote in his autobiography. “Sleep is death, or at least it is an exclusion from reality, or, even better, it is the death of reality itself, which dies in the same way during the act of love.” According to Dali, sleep frees the subconscious, so the artist's head blurs like a clam - this is evidence of his defenselessness. Only Gala, he will say after the death of his wife, “knowing my defenselessness, hid my hermit oyster pulp in a fortress-shell, and thus saved it.”
(3) Solid watchlie on the left with the dial down - this is a symbol of objective time.
(4) Ants- a symbol of decay and decay. According to Nina Getashvili, a professor at the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, “the childhood impression of a wounded bat infested with ants, as well as the artist’s own recollection of a bathing baby with ants in the anus, endowed the artist with the obsessive presence of this insect in his paintings for life.
On the clock on the left, the only one that has retained its hardness, the ants also create a clear cyclic structure, obeying the divisions of the chronometer. However, this does not obscure the meaning that the presence of ants is still a sign of decay.” According to Dali, linear time devours itself.
(5) Fly.According to Nina Getashvili, “the artist called them fairies of the Mediterranean. In The Diary of a Genius, Dali wrote: "They carried inspiration to the Greek philosophers who spent their lives under the sun, covered in flies."
(6) Oliva.For the artist, this is a symbol of ancient wisdom, which, unfortunately, has already sunk into oblivion and therefore the tree is depicted dry.
(7) Cape Creus.This cape on the Catalan coast of the Mediterranean Sea, near the city of Figueres, where Dali was born. The artist often depicted him in paintings. “Here,” he wrote, “the most important principle of my theory of paranoid metamorphoses (the flow of one delusional image into another) is embodied in rock granite. These are frozen clouds reared up by an explosion in all their countless incarnations, all new and new - you just need to slightly change the angle of view.
(8) Seafor Dali it symbolized immortality and eternity. The artist considered it an ideal space for traveling, where time does not flow at an objective speed, but in accordance with the internal rhythms of the traveler's consciousness.
(9) Egg.According to Nina Getashvili, the World Egg in Dali's work symbolizes life. The artist borrowed his image from the Orphics - ancient Greek mystics. According to Orphic mythology, the first bisexual deity Phanes, who created people, was born from the World Egg, and heaven and earth were formed from the two halves of its shell.
(10) Mirrorlying horizontally to the left. It is a symbol of variability and impermanence, obediently reflecting both the subjective and the objective world.
Painting is the art of expressing the invisible through the visible.
Eugene Fromentin.
Painting, and in particular its "podcast" surrealism, is not a genre understood by everyone. Those who do not understand throw loud words of criticism, and those who understand are ready to give millions for paintings of this genre. Here is the picture, the first and most famous of the surrealists, “Flowing Time” has “two camps” of opinions. Some shout that the picture is unworthy of all the glory that it has, while others are ready to look at the picture for hours and get aesthetic pleasure ...
The picture of the surrealist carries a very deep meaning. And this meaning develops into a problem - aimlessly flowing time.
In the 20th century in which Dali lived, this problem already existed, already ate people. Many did absolutely nothing useful for them and for society. They burned their lives. And in the 21st century, it acquires even greater strength and tragedy. Teenagers do not read, sit at computers and various gadgets aimlessly and without benefit to themselves. On the contrary: to your own detriment. And even if Dali did not assume the significance of his painting in the 21st century, it made a splash and this is a fact.
Now the "leaking time" has become the object of disputes and conflicts. Many deny all significance, deny the very meaning and deny surrealism as art itself. They argue whether Dali had any idea about the problems of the 21st century when he painted a picture in the 20th?
But nevertheless, "flowing time" is considered one of the most expensive and famous paintings by the artist Salvador Dali.
It seems to me that in and in the 20th century there were problems that weighed heavily on the shoulders of the painter. And opening a new genre of painting, with a cry displayed on canvas, he tried to convey to people: “do not waste precious time!”. And his call was accepted not as an instructive "story", but as a masterpiece of the genre of surrealism. The meaning is lost in the money that swirls around the flowing time. And this circle is closed. The picture, which, according to the author's assumption, was supposed to teach people not to waste time, became a paradox: it itself began to waste people's time and money in vain. Why does a person need a picture in his house, hanging aimlessly? Why spend a lot of money on it? I do not think that Salvador painted a masterpiece for the sake of money, because when the goal is money, nothing comes out.
“Leaking Time” has been teaching for several generations not to miss, not to waste precious seconds of life just like that. Many appreciate the painting, namely the prestige: they gave Salvador an interest in the surrealism, but do not notice the scream and the meaning embedded in the canvas.
And now, when it is so important to show people that time is more valuable than diamonds, the picture is more relevant and instructive than ever. But only money revolves around her. It's unfortunate.
In my opinion, schools should have painting lessons. Not just drawing, but painting and the meaning of painting. Show children famous paintings by famous artists and reveal to them the meaning of their creations. For the work of artists, who paint in the same way that poets and writers write their works, should not become the goal of prestige and money. I don't think SUCH pictures are drawn for this. Minimalism - yes, stupidity, for which big money is paid. And surrealism in some exhibits. But such paintings as "flowing time", "Malevich's square" and others should not gather dust on someone's walls, but be in museums the center of everyone's attention and reflection. You can argue about the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich for days, what did he mean, and in the painting by Salvador Dali from year to year he finds more and more new interpretations. That's what painting and art in general are for. IMHO, as the Japanese would say.
Year of painting: 1931, size: 33 cm x 24 cm.
The Persistence of Memory was painted by the Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali and is one of his most famous works. She is currently at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Thanks to the huge number of fans of this painting and the followers of the painter, this canvas is very popular and at the present time, it is often mentioned in modern popular culture.
“The blindness of people who always do the same thing is striking. I am surprised why the bank employee does not eat the check, I am surprised that other artists, before me, did not think of drawing "soft watches" ... "- wrote Salvador Dali.
The Persistence of Memory is a surreal painting. Surrealism was a cultural movement that took place in the 1920s. The surreal artworks present an element of surprise, unforeseen comparisons and irreverent humor. Sometimes, it's art that is a free expression of the artist's current imagination that can be difficult to interpret, and The Persistence of Memory is no exception. Here the artist depicts hard objects as soft ones.
The painting depicts a slowly melting pocket watch separated from its chains, the sea and a deserted beach in a bay surrounded by cliffs in the background (the artist was inspired by the cliffs of Cape Creus). Part of the picture is illuminated by sunlight, and part is shrouded in shadow. If you look closely, you can also see small stones.
“Landscape is a state of mind,” Dali said.
Dali often used the philosophy of hard and soft in his paintings. According to some experts, melting clocks indicate the fluidity of time, solid stones are the reality of life, and the sea represents the immensity of the earth. There is also an orange-red clock covered with ants in the painting, supposedly symbolizing the torment of waiting. Attention is also attracted by a strange figure, in the center, resembling a melting head with a large nose, protruding tongue and a closed eye with long eyelashes. Her neck seems to be fading into shadow. Some interpret it as a joke, the head of a person staring and frozen in a trance, the future viewer of this picture, others believe that this is the head of Dali himself, during a migraine attack. Some also say that the head has this shape because it is free from any prejudices, or simply dead, or the artist believed that death is freedom, because he said: “Freedom - if you define its aesthetic category - is the embodiment of formlessness, it is amorphous”, “Death fascinates me with eternity”.
There are many different versions of the Persistence of Memory analysis. Critic, art historian Dawn Ades wrote that "the soft watch is an unconscious symbol of the relativity of space and time." When Dali was asked if it was true that this was an allusion to Einstein's theory of relativity, he replied rather flippantly that it was just a surreal vision of Camembert cheese melting in the sun.
Also, experts say that Freud's ideas could have influenced the meaning of the work, since the painting was painted during the years when Dali was interested in Freud's work.
“When I write, I myself do not understand what is the meaning of my picture. But don't think it's meaningless! It’s just that it is so deep and complex, laid-back and whimsical that it eludes the logical standard perception,” said Dali.
The painting has attracted the attention of art lovers for many decades. During this time, the picture received a lot of criticism and praise. For those who like the surreal style of art, this is a masterpiece. For others, it's just rubbish or, at best, a picture of a lunatic. Be that as it may, this is one of the works of art that will not be erased from people's memory for a long time and will provoke new arguments and interpretations.
Salvador Dali became famous all over the world thanks to his inimitable surreal style of painting. The most famous works of the author include his personal self-portrait, where he depicted himself with a neck in the style of Raphael's brush, "Flesh on the Stones", "Enlightened Pleasures", "The Invisible Man". However, Salvador Dali wrote The Persistence of Memory, adding this work to one of his most profound theories. This happened at the junction of his stylistic rethinking, when the artist joined the current of surrealism.
"The Persistence of Memory". Salvador Dali and his Freudian theory
The famous canvas was created in 1931, when the artist is in a state of heightened excitement from the theories of his idol, the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. In general terms, the idea of the painting was to convey the artist's attitude to softness and hardness.
Being a very egocentric person, prone to outbursts of uncontrollable inspiration and at the same time carefully comprehending it from the point of view of psychoanalysis, Salvador Dali, like all creative personalities, created his masterpiece under the influence of a hot summer day. As the artist himself recalls, he was puzzled by the contemplation of how the heat melts him and used to be attracted by the theme of transforming objects into different states, which he tried to convey on canvas. The painting "The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali is a symbiosis of melted cheese with an olive tree standing alone against the backdrop of mountains. By the way, it was this image that became the prototype of soft watches.
Description of the picture
Almost all the works of that period are filled with abstract images of human faces hidden behind the forms of foreign objects. They seem to be hidden from view, but at the same time they are the main acting characters. So the surrealist tried to depict the subconscious in his works. The central figure of the painting "The Persistence of Memory" Salvador Dali made a face that is similar to his self-portrait.
The picture seems to have absorbed all the significant stages in the life of the artist, and also displayed the inevitable future. You can see that in the lower left corner of the canvas you can see a closed clock completely dotted with ants. Dali often resorted to the image of these insects, which for him were associated with death. The shape and color of the clock was based on the artist's memories of one in his childhood home that was broken. By the way, the mountains that can be seen are nothing more than a piece from the landscape of the Spaniard's homeland.
"The Persistence of Memory" Salvador Dali portrayed somewhat devastated. It is clearly seen that all objects are separated by a desert and are not self-sufficient. Art critics believe that by doing this the author tried to convey his spiritual emptiness, which weighed on him at that time. In fact, the idea was to convey human anguish about the passage of time and changes in memory. Time, according to Dali, is infinite, relative and in constant motion. Memory, on the other hand, is short-lived, but its stability should not be underestimated.
Secret images in the picture
“The Persistence of Memory” Salvador Dali wrote in a couple of hours and did not bother to give anyone an explanation about what he wanted to say with this canvas. Many art historians are still building hypotheses around this iconic work of the master, noticing in it only individual symbols that the artist resorted to throughout his life.
Upon closer examination, you can see that the clock hanging from the branch on the left is shaped like a tongue. The tree on the canvas is depicted withered, indicating the destructive aspect of time. This work is small in size, but is considered the most powerful of all that Salvador Dali wrote. "The Persistence of Memory" is certainly the most psychologically deep picture that reveals the author's inner world to the maximum. Perhaps that is why he did not want to comment on it, leaving his admirers to guess.
Salvador Dali. The Persistence of Memory. 1931 24x33 cm Museum of Modern Art, New York (MOMA)
A melting clock is a very recognizable image of Dali. Even more recognizable than an egg or a nose with lips.
Remembering Dali, we willy-nilly think about the painting "The Persistence of Memory".
What is the secret of such a success of the picture? Why did she become the hallmark of the artist?
Let's try to figure it out. And at the same time, we will carefully consider all the details.
"Permanence of memory" - something to think about
Salvador Dali's many works are unique. Due to the unusual combination of details. It encourages the viewer to ask questions. Why is it all? What did the artist want to say?
The Persistence of Memory is no exception. She immediately provokes a person to think. Because the image of the current watch is very catchy.
But not only the clock makes you think. The whole picture is saturated with many contradictions.
Let's start with color. There are many shades of brown in the picture. They are hot, which enhances the feeling of emptiness.
But this hot space is diluted with cold blue. Such are watch dials, the sea and the surface of a huge mirror.
Salvador Dali. Persistence of memory (detail with a dry tree). 1931 Museum of Modern Art, New York
The curvature of the dials and the branches of dry wood are in stark contrast to the straight lines of the table and the mirror.
We also see the opposition of real and unreal things. A dry tree is real, but the clock melting on it is not. The sea is real. But a mirror the size of it is unlikely to be found in our world.
Such a mixture of everything and everything leads to different thoughts. Think about the change in the world. And about the fact that time does not come, but goes. And about the neighborhood of reality and sleep in our lives.
Everyone will think, even if they do not know anything about Dali's work.
Dali's interpretation
Dali himself commented little on his masterpiece. He only said that the image of a melting watch was inspired by cheese spreading in the sun. And when painting a picture, he thought about the teachings of Heraclitus.
This ancient thinker said that everything in the world is changeable and has a dual nature. Well, there is more than enough duality in The Persistence of Time.
But why exactly did the artist name his painting? Maybe because he believed in the permanence of memory. In that, only the memory of some events and people can be preserved, despite the passage of time.
But we don't know the exact answer. This is the beauty of this masterpiece. You can struggle over the riddles of the picture for as long as you like, but you won’t find all the answers.
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On that day in July 1931, Dali had an interesting image of a melting watch in his head. But all other images have already been used by him in other works. They migrated to The Persistence of Memory.
Maybe that's why the film is so successful. Because this is a piggy bank of the most successful images of the artist.
Dali even drew his favorite egg. Although somewhere in the background.
Salvador Dali. Persistence of memory (fragment). 1931 Museum of Modern Art, New York Of course, on the "Geopolitical Child" it is a close-up. But both there and there, the egg carries the same symbolism - change, the birth of something new. Again, according to Heraclitus.
Salvador Dali. geopolitical child. 1943 Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA In the same fragment of The Persistence of Memory, a close-up shows the mountains. This is Cape Creus near his hometown of Figueres. Dali liked to transfer memories from his childhood to his paintings. So this landscape, familiar to him from birth, roams from picture to picture.
Dali self-portrait
Of course, a strange creature still catches your eye. It is, like a clock, fluid and formless. This is Dali's self-portrait.
We see a closed eye with huge eyelashes. Protruding long and thick tongue. He is clearly unconscious or not feeling well. Still, in such heat, when even the metal melts.
Salvador Dali. Persistence of memory (detail with self-portrait). 1931 Museum of Modern Art, New York Is this a metaphor for wasted time? Or a human shell that lived its life meaninglessly?
Personally, I associate this head with Michelangelo's self-portrait from the Last Judgment fresco. The master portrayed himself in a peculiar way. In the form of loose skin.
To take a similar image is quite in the spirit of Dali. After all, his work was distinguished by frankness, a desire to show all his fears and desires. The image of a man with flayed skin suited him perfectly.
Michelangelo. Terrible Judgment. Fragment. 1537-1541 Sistine Chapel, Vatican In general, such a self-portrait is a frequent occurrence in Dali's paintings. Close-up we see him on the canvas "The Great Masturbator".
Salvador Dali. Great masturbator. 1929 Reina Sofia Art Center, Madrid And now we can already draw a conclusion about another secret to the success of the picture. All the pictures given for comparison have one feature. Like many other works of Dali.
juicy details
There is a lot of sexual overtones in Dali's works. You can't just show them to an audience under 16. And you can't depict them on posters either. Otherwise, they will be accused of insulting the feelings of passers-by. How did it happen with reproductions.
But "The Persistence of Memory" is quite innocent. Replicate as much as you want. And in schools, show them in art classes. And print on mugs with T-shirts.
It's hard not to pay attention to insects. A fly sits on one dial. On the inverted red clock - ants.
Salvador Dali. Persistence of memory (detail). 1931 Museum of Modern Art, New York Ants are also frequent guests in the master's paintings. We see them on the same "Masturbator". They swarm on locusts and around the mouth.
Salvador Dali. Great masturbator (fragment). 1929 Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA Ants in Dali were associated with decay and death after an extremely unpleasant incident in childhood. One day he saw ants eating the corpse of a bat.
It is precisely for this that the artist depicted them on the clock. Like eating time. The fly is most likely depicted with the same meaning. This is a reminder to people that time is running out without a return.
Summarize
So what is the secret to the success of The Persistence of Memory? Personally, I found 5 explanations for this phenomenon for myself:
- A very memorable image of a melting watch.
The picture makes you think. Even if you know little about Dali's work.
– The picture contains all the most interesting images of the artist (egg, self-portrait, insects). This is not counting the clock itself.
- The picture is devoid of sexual overtones. It can be shown to any person on this Earth. Even the smallest one.
- All the symbols of the picture are not fully deciphered. And we can guess over them endlessly. This is the strength of all masterpieces.
