From the artist's life
Dalí said the melting clocks of The Persistence of Memory were inspired by a Camembert cheese softening in the sun.
Source: Wikipedia / WikimediaSurrealism
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) was the flamboyant showman of Surrealism, painting hyper-real dreamscapes of melting clocks and impossible space with academic precision. His waxed moustache and outrageous antics made him the most famous artist of his age.
Dalí turned the unconscious into spectacle and blurred the line between fine art, celebrity and self-promotion.
- Painted The Persistence of Memory, the melting-clocks image that became the icon of Surrealism.
- Used his paranoiac-critical method to summon and paint hallucinatory double images.
- A relentless self-promoter — he designed the Chupa Chups logo and worked on a dream sequence for Hitchcock.
Key works
Where to start
Complete list of key works
Works with a dedicated ArtAtlas page are highlighted in gold.
- The Persistence of MemoryOn ArtAtlas
- The Great MasturbatorListed for reference
- The Face of WarListed for reference
- Soft Construction with Boiled BeansListed for reference
- Christ of Saint John of the CrossListed for reference
- The Sacrament of the Last SupperListed for reference
1931
The Persistence of Memory
The Persistence of Memory is a 1931 painting by artist Salvador Dalí and one of the most recognizable works of Surrealism.