Destiny Keshner

Professor Joseph Gaudiana

ENG 170

2/5/2022

The Visual Analysis of The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

The Persistence of Memory was painted by Salvador Dali in 1931. Dali created surrealistic artwork to make his dreams come alive in a painting. Dali incorporates abstract, three-dimensional forms, geometric shaping, and many more elements of art to display the different objects in the painting. The painting contains many objects that are recognizable like the mountains, the water surrounding the mountains, the defected tree, and the melting clocks. While there are objects that are easily depicted Dali incorporates other objects that are obscure and abstract. This piece of artwork is distinguished by its lines, shapes, colors, forms and more. The most notable element of art in this piece is his use of lines.

Dali uses lines in a variety of ways depending on the object that he is drawing. His lines are mostly thin and have a similar width. Since most of his lines are thin, they make the objects look realistic. The only two objects that Dali does not use thin lines are on the mountains and the eyelashes on the half of the human face. Dali incorporates both organic and inorganic lines in his painting. He uses inorganic lines to complete the perfect geometric shaping of light blue platform in the left back of the painting. Inorganic lines are also used on the front left brown elevated platform that is holding the melting clock, the defective tree, and the tray of ants. Although there are inorganic lines involved in the painting the painting consists mostly of organic lines to form the melting of the clocks and the rigid mountains surrounded by the water. Dali’s line usage can easily show the difference between his lining and shading. The lines in the painting are so sharp that all the objects in the painting can be recognized. The lines that Dali uses in this painting make the shapes and forms of the objects unique.

The way Dali applies his lining in the painting with organic and inorganic lines they help form the geometric and organic shapes and forms. Dali shapes the light blue platform in the left corner and the brown platform in the front of the painting in a three-dimensional way to make them look realistic. The two platforms are formed with straight lines leaving a geometric shape. The shaping of the clocks is formed to sculpt into the objects that they are melting on. The melting of the clocks allows a person to tell the flimsy shape. Most of the objects are shaped organically which makes them recognizable like the defective tree, the ants, the mountains and even the eyelashes. Although it is hard to make out what the white figure is, Dali uses human like features to show that it is formed as half a human face. Dali does not use one shape or form throughout the whole painting. He instead uses all of them like organic, geometric, and three dimensional to make the painting become realistic.

Like the shapes and forms making the painting realistic the warm colors make the painting really come alive. Although The Persistence of Memory consists of warm colors the way the Dali implements the colors it makes the painting illuminate. Dali does a fantastic job at creating a different practicality by incorporating both colors and shadows together. The colors in the painting consist of gold, black, brown, yellow, and some blue. The way that he colors and shades in this painting makes the gold, and silver on the watch glisten. The yellow of the sky fades into the yellow rigid mountains. The warm colors of the objects piece the painting together, but an important aspect is also the spacing. Dali uses an atmospheric perspective to make the distance objects slightly less detailed. The yellow sky hitting the light blue water is grained while objects like the clocks, and tree are sharper and smooth. The overall affect this has on the painting is that it gives the illusion of depth which makes the painting more realistic. The texturing of rough surfaces makes the mood negative but also makes it more visually active. While with smooth textures it makes the mood pleasant and relaxed. Most of the object’s rest on another object giving a three-dimensional illusion. Dali makes the textures of the objects see realistic as well with using different types of textures like smooth, rough, rigid. The glistening of the gold pocket watch makes the surface look smooth while the mountains in the background have a rough rigid looking feel. The dismantled tree has deteriorating bark with the warping clock on its weakened branch. The white half sculpted face is smooth with the rough look of the eyelashes attached. The blue three-dimensional platform has a smooth reflective top with a grained siding.

Dali artistically makes the surfaces in the painting vary from smooth to rough looking. The light brown cubic platform is smooth while the mountains in the background have rough edges to make the mountain look realistic. Dali implements trompe l’oeil which is when an artist creates a painting that is deceiving to the eye and makes an illusion that the objects are real. In the painting he creates a three-dimensional illusion by having the main objects in the front in the foreground and the mountains reflecting in the water in the background. The lighting in the painting is striking from the background from the sunsetting. The light is also coming in from the left side lighting up the brown platform creating shadows on the dark brown grained sand. The shadowing in this piece creates the difference between the light and dark. He creates small, detailed shadows with the fly flying on top of the clock giving off a small, shadowed figure of the fly.