Spellbound by Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory (1931)
March 25, 2009
Mentioned in my The Tentacle www.thetentacle.com column: “Spellbound by Salvador Dali," March 25, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3078
When I was putting that column together I had the great fortune to talk with Dan Twyman, the senior art consultant for the “Salvador Dali Society,” in Redondo Beach Ca., the owner of the well-known website, www.salvadordaliexperts.com and a volunteer expert for the website, www.allexperts.com in the fine art category.
He spent a great deal of time on the phone with me and was kind enough to go out of his way to mail me some great materials.
Of course, word limit is a constant challenge with a huge subject like Salvador Dali. I could’ve written an entire column on the work of Dan Twyman…
Anyway – getting back to “The Persistence of Memory”…
The Persistence of Memory Salvador Dalí, 1931 oil on canvas 24 × 33 cm, 9.4 × 13 in Museum of Modern Art, New York City © 2007 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
“The painting was first exhibited in Paris at the Galerie Pierre Colle in 1931, where it was purchased by the New York gallerist Julien Levy for $250. In 1933 it was sold to Mrs. Stanley B. Resor, who donated the piece anonymously to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1934.” (1)
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=79018
Museum of Modern Art gallery label text:
Dalí: Painting and Film, June 29–September 15, 2008
“Time is the theme here, from the melting watches to the decay implied by the swarming ants. The monstrous fleshy creature draped across the paintings center is an approximation of Dalís own face in profile.
“Mastering what he called "the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling," Dalí painted this work with "the most imperialist fury of precision," but only, he said, "to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality." There is, however, a nod to the real: The distant golden cliffs are those on the coast of Catalonia, Dalís home.”
[…]
Museum of Modern Art publication excerpts:
“The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999
“The Persistence of Memory is aptly named, for the scene is indelibly memorable. Hard objects become inexplicably limp in this bleak and infinite dreamscape, while metal attracts ants like rotting flesh. Mastering what he called "the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling," Dali painted with what he called "the most imperialist fury of precision," but only, he said, "to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality." It is the classical Surrealist ambition, yet some literal reality is included too: the distant golden cliffs are the coast of Catalonia, Dali's home.”
[…]
19310000 The Persistence of Memory
March 25, 2009
Mentioned in my The Tentacle www.thetentacle.com column: “Spellbound by Salvador Dali," March 25, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3078
When I was putting that column together I had the great fortune to talk with Dan Twyman, the senior art consultant for the “Salvador Dali Society,” in Redondo Beach Ca., the owner of the well-known website, www.salvadordaliexperts.com and a volunteer expert for the website, www.allexperts.com in the fine art category.
He spent a great deal of time on the phone with me and was kind enough to go out of his way to mail me some great materials.
Of course, word limit is a constant challenge with a huge subject like Salvador Dali. I could’ve written an entire column on the work of Dan Twyman…
Anyway – getting back to “The Persistence of Memory”…
The Persistence of Memory Salvador Dalí, 1931 oil on canvas 24 × 33 cm, 9.4 × 13 in Museum of Modern Art, New York City © 2007 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
“The painting was first exhibited in Paris at the Galerie Pierre Colle in 1931, where it was purchased by the New York gallerist Julien Levy for $250. In 1933 it was sold to Mrs. Stanley B. Resor, who donated the piece anonymously to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1934.” (1)
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=79018
Museum of Modern Art gallery label text:
Dalí: Painting and Film, June 29–September 15, 2008
“Time is the theme here, from the melting watches to the decay implied by the swarming ants. The monstrous fleshy creature draped across the paintings center is an approximation of Dalís own face in profile.
“Mastering what he called "the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling," Dalí painted this work with "the most imperialist fury of precision," but only, he said, "to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality." There is, however, a nod to the real: The distant golden cliffs are those on the coast of Catalonia, Dalís home.”
[…]
Museum of Modern Art publication excerpts:
“The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999
“The Persistence of Memory is aptly named, for the scene is indelibly memorable. Hard objects become inexplicably limp in this bleak and infinite dreamscape, while metal attracts ants like rotting flesh. Mastering what he called "the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling," Dali painted with what he called "the most imperialist fury of precision," but only, he said, "to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality." It is the classical Surrealist ambition, yet some literal reality is included too: the distant golden cliffs are the coast of Catalonia, Dali's home.”
[…]
19310000 The Persistence of Memory
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: www.kevindayhoff.com (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/)
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