8. The Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dalí is perhaps the most famous surrealist and dadaist artist, due to both his eye-catching stylized paintings and his outlandish personality and appearance. Born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech in 1904 in Catalonia to middle-class parents, Dali went on to achieve immense fame for his artwork, even receiving the title 1st Marquis of Dalí de Púbol from the King of Spain.
One of Dalí’s most famous works is The Persistence of Memory, which features melting clocks dispersed through an eerie, surreal landscape. Persistence was painted in 1931 and is oil on canvas. The painting has been displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1934. The picture was gifted to the museum by an anonymous donor.
Dalí was notorious for never wanting to discuss the meaning or symbolism of his own paintings. However, of Persistence, he said that he took his inspiration for the melted clocks from seeing chunks of camembert cheese melting in the sun. Given Dalí’s reputation for being a rather dramatic and entertaining man, it is quite likely he was playing a joke on a journalist who wasn’t aware of his aversion to discussing the nature of his artistic work.
