According to Dalí, the self-portrait was based on a rock formation at Cap de Creus in northeast Catalonia. The influence of the Catalan landscape also appears in another element of the painting: the artist inserts himself into the scene in the form of a strange fleshy creature in the center of the painting. He set the scene in a desolate landscape that was likely inspired by the landscape of his homeland, the Catalan coast. Ants, a common motif in Dalí’s art are usually linked to decay and death.
The idea of rot and decay is most evident in the gold watch on the left, which is swarmed by ants. When asked about the limp watches, the artist compared their softness to overripe cheese saying that they show “the camembert of time”. Dalí paints his fantastical vision in a meticulous and realistic manner: he effortlessly integrates the real and the imaginary in order “to systemize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality”. The painting depicts a dreamworld in which common objects are deformed and displayed in a bizarre and irrational way: watches, solid and hard objects appear to be inexplicably limp and melting in the desolate landscape. Frequently referenced in popular culture, the small canvas (24x33 cm) is sometimes known as “Melting Clocks”, “The Soft Watches” and “The Melting Watches”. The Persistence of Memory (1931) is one of the most iconic and recognizable paintings of Surrealism.
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