The Persistence of Memory is Salvador Dalí's most famous painting. The work shows three dissolving pocket watches arranged in the Catalan landscape in front of the rugged cliffs of Cap de Creus. A fly sits on one watch, symbolizing the passage of time. Another clock is being eaten by ants, symbolic of transience and decay. In the middle of the painting, a clock is melting away on an abstract face of the artist, depicted in profile, who has his eyes closed.

Copyright: Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, VEGAP, Barcelona 2020

Material composition: 83% cotton, 15% polyamide, 2% elastane
Country of origin: Italy