A fascinating and detailed analysis of one of the most iconic works of Surrealism
In 1931, Salvador Dal? (1904-89) painted The Persistence of Memory, a work that has become virtually synonymous both with the artist and with Surrealism itself. In this bleak and infinite dreamscape, hard objects become inexplicably limp, while metal attracts ants like rotting flesh. Yet realistic details are included, too: the distant cliffs depict the coastline of Dal?’s native Catalonia. Tapping deep into the nonrational mechanisms of his mind–dreams, the imagination and the subconscious– and utilizing what he called “the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling,” Dal? claimed that he made this painting with “the most imperialist fury of precision,” but only “to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality.” Curator Anne Umland unpacks this uncanny masterpiece, placing it within Dal?’s long career as artist, author, critic, impresario and provocateur.
Author: Salvador Dali
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Museum of Modern Art
Published: 10/28/2025
Pages: 48
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 8.80h x 7.20w x 0.20d
ISBN: 9781633451759
Language: English
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