disintegration of the persistence of memory

THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY STAYED IN NEW YORK THANKS TO AN ANONYMOUS DONOR.Īfter its gallery show, a patron bought the piece and donated it to the Museum of Modern Art in 1934. The press and the public went mad for him when The Persistence of Memory was shown at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1932. But Dalì’s big break didn’t come until he created his signature surrealist work. As a young man, he flirted with fame, working with Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel on his groundbreaking shorts Un Chien Andalou and L'Age d'Or. THE PAINTING MADE THE 28-YEAR-OLD ARTIST FAMOUS.ĭalì began painting when he was 6 years old. The Persistence of Memory is one of Dalì's philosophical triumphs, but the actual oil-on-canvas painting measures only 9.5 inches by 13 inches. 'I register without choice and with all possible exactitude the dictates of my subconscious, my dreams.” 2. “I am the first to be surprised and often terrified by the images I see appear upon my canvas,' Dalì wrote, referring to his unusual routine. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY WAS PAINTED IN THE MIDST OF A HALLUCINATION.Īround the time of the painting’s 1931 creation, Dalì perfected his 'paranoiac-critical method.' The artist would attempt to enter a meditative state of self-induced psychotic hallucinations so that he could make what he called 'hand-painted dream photographs.' You have probably committed its melting clocks to memory-but you may not know all that went into its making. This work represents an important shift in the artist's creative path.Salvador Dalì's The Persistence of Memory is the eccentric Spanish painter's most recognizable work. With the Disintegration of Persistence of Memory, Dali re-evaluates and reinvents his own artistic history based on his new fascination with and understanding of the world of science. In his later painting, it is clear that the subconscious is no longer Dali's primary focus. The melting watches which had been the focal point of Persistence of Memory are seen here as a reminder of Dali's earlier interest in using physical, mundane objects to represent the expression of subconscious human desires and drives. The grid of blocks is intended to show the disintegration and reintegration of matter in relation to the space/time continuum. In the new work, the seascape of the previous painting is pulled back to reveal a new grid-like structure meant to visually represent quantum mechanics. Instead of representing the interior or psychological world through surrealistic images (as he had previously done), he now wanted to explore the external world through physics.ĭisintegration of Persistence of Memory is a figurative breaking down of his earlier work, The Persistence of Memory. In the 1950s, Dali was fascinated with the connection between science and math and metaphysics and religious faith. In order to do so, he painted the Disintegration of Persistence of Memory as a deconstruction of a specific previous work. Dali's new scientific interests were taking hold and he wished to make a distinct and clear break between his new work and his former paintings. This later work of Salvador Dali's represents his movement away from his surrealist period. The Salvador Dalí Museum, St Petersburg, Florida

Disintegration of the persistence of memory