concept:era modern
The Persistence of Memory
Small-scale Surrealist oil painting by Salvador Dalí, 1931, depicting melting watches in a dreamlike coastal landscape. Held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Scholarly Significance
Anchor the Surrealism cluster with the most iconic work of Salvador Dalí, held at MoMA New York.
Notes
- ·Notably small in scale at 24.1 × 33 cm, despite its outsize cultural impact.
- ·Painted in Dalí's studio at Port Lligat, Catalonia, Spain.
- ·Acquired by MoMA in 1934, a gift of Mrs. Simon Guggenheim.
- ·The melting watches are one of the most recognizable images in twentieth-century art.
- ·The barren coastal landscape is identified with the Cap de Creus peninsula near Port Lligat.