Of Melting Timepieces and Hallucinogenic Bullfighters …

13 09 2009

Inspired by a piece of melting Camembert, which Salvador Dalí observed on a hot August evening, the images of melting clocks and watches are some of the most recognisable images produced by Dalí. A visit to the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, brought about by my fascination with Dalí since the encounter with Dalí’s “Christ of St. John on the Cross” in Glasgow, provided some enlightenment to the artist’s inspiration for the iconic melting timepieces that first appeared on what is probably his most famous painting, “The Persistence of Memory”, against the backdrop of another interpretation of this work – “The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory”. The melting timepieces represent the relativity and decay of time, which conventional thought held to be rigid and deterministic. Dali, as we were told by the guide had pondered if time could melt like the piece of cheese that stood before his eyes, on an evening where suffering from a bad headache, the artist had stayed home while Gala his wife, had gone to the movies. Then and there, the artist got his inspiration to add the images of the melting pocket watches to the landscape near Port Lligat which he had been in the midst of painting, which filled not just Gala on her return from the Theatre, with fascination, but the many of us who have seen the images of the melting timepieces.

The Disintegration of Persistence of Memory (1952 - 1954), Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida. (Source: Wikipedia)

Dali's Melting Timepiece on display in Singapore in 2006. Profile of Time (1977 - 1984), Dalì Sculpture Collection.

The museum, which houses the largest collection of Dali’s works outside of Europe, has several of Dali’s masterworks, including the “The Hallucinogenic Toreador” and “The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus”. “The Hallucinogenic Toreador” perhaps provides some insight into Dali’s state of mind and the hallucinogenic state which provided the many images we see in his work. Several of the images we see repeated over many different works, the potrait of Gala, the little boy which represents Dali in his youth, the bay of Port Lligat … the symbolistic images, many of which depict Dali’s past experiences and influences.

The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1969 - 1970), Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida. (Source: Wikipedia).

The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1959), Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida. (Source: Wikipedia).

Another striking piece is the “Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s “Angelus””, Dalí’s interpretation of Jean-François Millet’s famous painting …

Archaeological Reminiscence Millet's "Angelus" (1933 - 1935), Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Jean-François Millet's "The Angelus" (1857 - 1859), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. (Source: Wikipedia).

Several of Salvador Dalí’s sculptures from the Dalí Sculpture Collection were on display in Singapore in September / October 2006. Among the striking pieces on display were the ones depicting his melting timepieces, as well as the “Homage to Newton”, which is now permanently displayed at the UOB Plaza.