What colours are used in The Persistence of Memory?

Answer 1

The well-known surrealisticSurrealismSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

piece introduced the image of the soft melting pocket watchPocket watchA pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatches became popular after World War I...

. It epitomizes Dalí's theory of 'softness' and 'hardness', which was central to his thinking at the time. Many also consider that the melting watches were there to literally symbolize the irrelevance of time.

Although fundamentally part of Dalí's Freudian phase, the imagery precedes by 14 years his transition to his scientific phase, which occurred after the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945.

It is possible to recognize a human figure in the middle of the composition, in the strange "monster" that Dalí used in several period pieces to represent himself - the abstract form becoming something of a self portrait, reappearing frequently in his work. The orange clock at the bottom left of the painting is covered in ants. Dali often used ants in his paintings as a symbol for death, as well as a symbol of female genitalia.

It is rumored that the painting was sprinkled with red wine shortly after it was complete, as was the Mona LisaMona LisaMona Lisa is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel by Leonardo da vinci during the Italian Renaissance. The work is owned by the Government of France and is on the wall in the Louvre in Paris, France with the title Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo...

.