The Use Of Value, Texture, And Shape In The Persistence Of Memory By Salvador Dali
Persistence of Memory is a 1931 masterpiece created by Salvador Dali. It is easily recognized as one of his most famous works, and it now rests in the Museum of Modern Art, which has been its home since 1934. The Persistence of Memory marks a pertinent time in art history, as it is celebrated as a prominent and iconic painting of Dali during the surrealism period. Many works created in surrealistic fashion focused on dreaming and the mysteries of the mind. Dali himself described his paintings as “hand-painted photographs.” The foundation of this artwork explores the human mind in dreaming. This artwork is notable for its prominent use of value, texture, and shape along with, the principle of variety and emphasis. Each of them play an important role. In what follows, I will explain why I found Dali’s use of value, texture, and shape along with the other elements so fascinating.
The element of value is present in this painting because the artist uses light brown in the background and dark brown in the foreground creating depth. The artist also used the element of texture using a different brush technique to make everything surrounding the clocks appear rough as a way to make the clocks more appealing to the eye because the clocks appear smooth. Another element of design used is the shape element. Shape is a major characteristic of the painting because all the clocks have organic shapes. The organic shapes allow the viewer to distinguish all the clocks from each other, and it helps from the uniqueness of this painting. The principles of design are also used in the painting; one of the most obvious one seen is variety. Variety is present because all the clocks are different, they have the same qualities, but they’re all presented differently, the clocks are all on different surfaces which cause them to slope downwards to the bottom of the painting. Lastly, emphasis is also determined through the dominant pathway. The dominant pathway is created from the surface the clocks are on, or one case the clock itself. For example, the clock that is sliding down the white looking hand thing, the hand looking thing is pointing towards the direction of the other clocks. And then the clock on the tree branch points in the direction of them are in-between the clocks.
This artwork can also be a work of emotionalism because it causes people to look back and reflect on all the time, they have let pass by which could cause the viewers all sort of emotions. Salvador Dali’s intent was to cause persuasion, which is evident by the clocks showing the audience that time runs out just like the clocks. He was also influenced by surrealism, cubism, and modern art going around during his time. Surrealism influenced this piece since it’s seen throughout the whole painting, mostly through the clocks’ odd characteristics.
The message that Dali is trying to inform the viewer is that nothing lasts forever, it’s all a matter of time before things fall. This is effective by the way the artist chooses to paint the clocks. Since the clocks seem to be slipping off the surfaces on which they’re on, his message is about time running out. It is very clear that the artist wants to inform people that time runs out sooner or last, just like the clocks seem to approach their end as they slip down towards the open darkness on the bottom of the painting. The artist also persuades the viewer at the same time to reflect on their lives given that the clocks also represent the viewer’s limited time of living. I n conclusion, Dali’s The Persistence of Memory is a remarkable piece of art. I have described how his experimental use of value, texture, and shape along with, the principle of variety and emphasis ultimately constitutes why this piece of artwork is so visually appealing and has a profound impact on the viewer. I hope to see this piece of art in person someday.
