The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory

Dali repeated his theme of the melting watches many times, most notably in the 1950’s with The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory. Although it measures a small 10 by 13 inches, it is full of allusions to the first painting, albeit with a flooded landscape, depicting the changes in the landscape from both above and below the water. Whereas some interpretations of the first work claim that it represents Einstein’s theory of relativity, interpretations of this work state that it represents the newly emerging ideas of quantum mechanics and the coming of the digital age. Later in his career Dali also created many lithographs and sculptures with variants on the theme of soft watches