A fascinating and detailed analysis of one of the most iconic works of Surrealism
In 1931, Salvador Dalí (1904–89) painted The Persistence of Memory, a work that has become virtually synonymous both with the artist and with Surrealism itself. In this bleak and infinite dreamscape, hard objects become inexplicably limp, while metal attracts ants like rotting flesh. Yet realistic details are included, too: the distant cliffs depict the coastline of Dalí's native Catalonia. Tapping deep into the nonrational mechanisms of his mind—dreams, the imagination and the subconscious— and utilizing what he called "the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling," Dalí claimed that he made this painting with "the most imperialist fury of precision," but only "to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality." Curator Anne Umland unpacks this uncanny masterpiece, placing it within Dalí's long career as artist, author, critic, impresario and provocateur.
STATUS: Forthcoming | 10/28/2025
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FORMAT: Pbk, 7.25 x 9 in. / 48 pgs / 35 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $14.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $21 ISBN: 9781633451759 PUBLISHER: The Museum of Modern Art, New York AVAILABLE: 10/28/2025 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Forthcoming AVAILABILITY: Awaiting stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Salvador Dalí: The Persistence of Memory MoMA One on One Series
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Text by Anne Umland.
A fascinating and detailed analysis of one of the most iconic works of Surrealism
In 1931, Salvador Dalí (1904–89) painted The Persistence of Memory, a work that has become virtually synonymous both with the artist and with Surrealism itself. In this bleak and infinite dreamscape, hard objects become inexplicably limp, while metal attracts ants like rotting flesh. Yet realistic details are included, too: the distant cliffs depict the coastline of Dalí's native Catalonia. Tapping deep into the nonrational mechanisms of his mind—dreams, the imagination and the subconscious— and utilizing what he called "the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling," Dalí claimed that he made this painting with "the most imperialist fury of precision," but only "to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality." Curator Anne Umland unpacks this uncanny masterpiece, placing it within Dalí's long career as artist, author, critic, impresario and provocateur.
