Persistence of Memory

To decipher reality, Dali uses the “paranoid- uncritical method’, which he explains as: "a spontaneous
method of irrational cognition, based on a critical interpretation of the illusion of delirium. " Thanks to
this method he can see a human face in the rocks, Lenin in piano keys or soft pocket watches that are
melting, making us question our own understanding of reality.

Apart from being one of Dalí's most famous paintings, The Persistence of Memory is also one of the
most significant works of art of Surrealism. The image represents a dream, a distorted reality, or more
precisely - a "reality" that can only be seen in a dream. Therefore, it is not surprising that these pocket
watches, which seem to be melting, have become a symbol of all surrealism.

This canvas represents Dali’s aesthetic theory of "hard" and" soft ". "Soft", in fact, represents watches:
one of which seems to be “leaking” from the table surface, while the other hangs from a branch. "Hard"
is shown in the background in form of the rocks of Cape Cruz. It is in the center of the composition a
strange figure, in which, true with difficulty, one can see a glimpse of the Great masturbator, a motive
that Dali used in his paintings before.

Dali was an eccentric artist, with a constant need to shock the public. But he never did it superficially
and on the first ball. So regardless of the analysis of individual elements, the whole picture of
Persistence of Memory speaks of the changing perception of people when it comes to understanding
the flow of time, where the time we have slowly slipped through our fingers while memories remain
frozen in time, allowing us to return to them whenever we wish.