The watches also seem to represent the fact that man is obsessed with “the nature of time” (Wilson). According to Nathaniel Harris, by placing these watches Dani conveys the message that human beings are universally preoccupied with memory and time (Harris). It is apparent that the watches are a representation of time itself. By depicting the coming apart of machine and time, Dali is challenging the audience’s belief in a logical, natural, and organized world. However, the painting seems to refute their content, and the way they are painted so softly makes them even more meaningful. Primarily, the melting watches in the painting act as compelling symbols of “ime’s wingèd chariot hurrying near” (Marvell). There are a lot of alluring and eloquent images in The Persistence of Memory however, the melting watches are perhaps the most fascinating and significant of them all. “ immaculate precision” (Secrest) of the painting has been particularly admired, which makes its dreamlike scene seem realistic, and can be regarded as Dali’s homage to his teacher Jan Vermeer, who was legendary master of photorealism. In fact, the painting depicts “autonomy of color and brushstroke” (Anfam 421). This painting like many of the Dali’s other surrealist paintings, which he referred to as “hand-painted dream photographs” has explicit, sharp details and the brushwork is almost invisible. The landscape of the painting is actually Port Lligat, a Mediterranean village that where Dali lived most of his life and often included in his paintings. Dali has visibly set the renowned melting watches in the landscape of the painting. The painting also tends to have a “jewel-like intensity” (Anfam 420). The Persistence of Memory is a small-sized oil-on-canvas painting and is not really as big as many imagine it to be. However, according to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), these “baffling” qualities of the painting, especially the watches, are its “highest praise.” The painting is among Dali’s works that he himself referred to as his “hand painted dream photographs.” The audience of today can read the paining as landscape, self-portraits and a self-portrait, all at the same time. Even the hardness and softness in the painting create confusion. The reason this painting has always been increasingly appealing, and has both encouraged and perplexed analysis and explanation is because Dali has effectively combined the dreamlike and the everyday, the illogical and symbolic, technology and nature. This painting served as a means of introducing Surrealism in conventional America. But mostly this is a very personal image for Dali - a sign of his own messed up brain where castration anxiety, fear of impotence and God knows what other penis-related neuroses lurk.Salvador Dali painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931, and today it is regarded among the 20th century’s most acclaimed and remembered paintings. Perhaps anxiety about time itself and how it leaves a path of deterioration in its wake!? And of course, the word “memory” in the title harkens to the past.
This particular bout of self-reflection began with the image of the weirdly shaped head, which is often interpreted as a self-portrait. And it worked well for Dali too, an egomaniac obsessed with his own phobias, fetishes and dreams. Of course, this method was pretty useful for Freudians who were interested in figuring out the mysterious layers of the unconscious. In fact, Dali would induce his own crazy by beginning with a single object then responding to it through a sort of irrational, subconscious word association game. He worked in a method he created, called the “paranoiac-critical method,” and yes, there’s definitely a bit of crazy in there. To figure out this painting it’s important to know Dali’s process as well. But this still doesn’t explain what it means! Those Surrealists always liked to play tricks with your mind, and this technique of painting called trompe l’oeil is one classic way to confound the viewer. But infamous timepieces aside…what the hell does this weird-ass painting mean? It’s the kind of dream-inspired landscape that makes you question how much of it is a dream and how much is reality. The idea for this painting drooped its way into the artist’s mind while he was looking at a plate of soft Camembert cheese melting in the sun, hence the iconic melting clocks which Dali soon became known for. The landscape of The Persistence of Memory is oddly flaccid in comparison to Salvador Dali’s own rather vertically inclined moustache!