Salvador Dali Persistence

Art Criticism

Description:
The composition I chose of the few options available to me is Persistence of memory by Salvador Dali. This piece of art is classified as surrealism painting. This exquisite artwork was painted with oil on canvas and is 24 by 33 cm. The persistence of memory is available to be seen by the public at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I believe it is a wonderful composition that has 3 melting clocks throughout the picture; one whish is located on the edge o the box, another which seems to be almost falling off the tree and the last one is gently draped over the duck like figure, lying on the ground. It is a wonderful artwork consisting of tons of elements of principles of art that make it complex but also containing a deeper meaning than just the surface.

Analysis:
To make this composition successful Dali had to distinctly think through the arrangement of the objects according to others he would place in the picture. Another good technique to do this is by considering the principles and elements of art and design. I also used these elements and principles in order to fully analyze the persistence of memory.

Concerning the elements, the lines were fairly thin in some areas such as the clocks and the edge of the cube like figure but the were more distinct and thick when it came to the mountains and the ground surface. Also something I noticed is that most o the lines are horizontal and lead you eye from left to right of as you absorb more and more of the artwork. Regarding the space he used was filled with 3D figures that created work depth into the surrealism. Most of the shapes are organic, and flowing to create the feel of the melting clocks as well as real mountains and the gentleness of the feathers on the duck figure. All but one of the figures in the composition is organic which is the cube figure in the left hand bottom corner. The artist used colour effectively to highlight the mountains in the background, different...