References Descharnes: Dalí: The Hard and the Soft, Sculptures & Objects. Eccart, 2004. pg. 238 ref. 615
DESCRIPTION
Echoing Dalí’s 1931 painting The Persistence of Memory, in which the famous melted watch appears for the first time, this sculpture is an ingenious creation – full of symbolism and hidden meanings. Dalí became obsessed with the flow of time and portrays the clock as soft, a type of symbolism he reserved for those objects he loathed. “The mechanical object was to become my worst enemy, and as for watches, they would have to be soft, or not be at all!”The soft watch liquefies lamentably over the tree forming a double image. Tilting ones head to the left a hidden image appears; the clock face changes into the artists profile, an eye, a pointed nose and the 9 suggestive of Dalí’s moustache. Dalí enjoyed surprising people and encouraged them to participate in his art.