Formal Analysis of The Persistence of Memory English 101
Moore 1
Alexis Moore"
Professor Braden"
English 101"
03 December 2013"
The Persistence of Memory!
"
In 1931, an artist by the name of Salvador Dali created one of his most famous
painting to date, The Persistence of Memory. Dali did most of the painting one evening when he was alone waiting for his wife, Gala, to return from the movies. “He claims that the idea came to him when a headache triggered, that waiting for Gala seemed interminable and the distortion of time made him think of melting clocks”(Sperling 215).
Dali’s painting brings together the subject matter, visual elements, and medium to create an overall impression. The most important elements that Dali used were values, shading, colors, texture, and medium."
"
The values and shading in the painting are very drawn out and detailed. “The
shadows in Dali’s Persistence of Memory are the heart and soul of the piece, creating a universe that has never been seen before”(Swinglehurst 22). Thick values give a three dimensional illusion to the piece, making the painting more realistic. On the tree, the values are used to create the illusion of bark, while the limp clock that is on its branch uses value to give a three dimensional effect, with the dark shading on the back. The tree also uses values at the top, giving the effect that the tree is broken and dead. The brown platform uses shading, giving it a three dimensional effect. While the watches on the brown platform have detailed shading on and around them, and “use color to shade and give a shiny effect”(Fanes 45). The watch on the ground uses a great deal of color
Moore 2 on the front, while the watch with the ants draws your attention to the insects covering it.
The ground is primarily solid brown, with vivid black shadows all over the landscape.
This shows the amount of sunlight that is shown in the landscape, reflecting off of other objects. This also gives you a sense of time, showing that the sun is either rising or setting. “The mountains use a
Alexis Moore"
Professor Braden"
English 101"
03 December 2013"
The Persistence of Memory!
"
In 1931, an artist by the name of Salvador Dali created one of his most famous
painting to date, The Persistence of Memory. Dali did most of the painting one evening when he was alone waiting for his wife, Gala, to return from the movies. “He claims that the idea came to him when a headache triggered, that waiting for Gala seemed interminable and the distortion of time made him think of melting clocks”(Sperling 215).
Dali’s painting brings together the subject matter, visual elements, and medium to create an overall impression. The most important elements that Dali used were values, shading, colors, texture, and medium."
"
The values and shading in the painting are very drawn out and detailed. “The
shadows in Dali’s Persistence of Memory are the heart and soul of the piece, creating a universe that has never been seen before”(Swinglehurst 22). Thick values give a three dimensional illusion to the piece, making the painting more realistic. On the tree, the values are used to create the illusion of bark, while the limp clock that is on its branch uses value to give a three dimensional effect, with the dark shading on the back. The tree also uses values at the top, giving the effect that the tree is broken and dead. The brown platform uses shading, giving it a three dimensional effect. While the watches on the brown platform have detailed shading on and around them, and “use color to shade and give a shiny effect”(Fanes 45). The watch on the ground uses a great deal of color
Moore 2 on the front, while the watch with the ants draws your attention to the insects covering it.
The ground is primarily solid brown, with vivid black shadows all over the landscape.
This shows the amount of sunlight that is shown in the landscape, reflecting off of other objects. This also gives you a sense of time, showing that the sun is either rising or setting. “The mountains use a
Cited: Descharnes, Robert. "Salvador Dali." Dali. Beograd: Jugoslavija, 1977. 25-26. Print." Durozoi, Gérard " University of Chicago, 2002 Connecticut: Greenwood, 2003. 215-21. Print.! Swinglehurst, Edmund