Week 2 Assignment: Essay – Painting Analysis & Reflection

Instructions
As part of the discussion this week, you made a brief exploration of a work of art to understand its subject, meaning, and intent. In this assignment, you will explore an artwork in more depth to consider the context in which it was created. Choose any painting, and address the following:

• Explain the artistic movement associated with the work of art.
• Describe the style of the artist (How is the artist unique within the movement?)
• Examine in some depth the influences that shaped the work. Address at least 2of the following:
  • Stylistic influences
  • Subject/content influences
  • Cross-disciplinary influences such as literature, philosophy, music, science, technology, etc.
  • Historical influences
  • Political influences
• Reflect on your learning.
  • How did your research enhance your appreciation of the artwork?
  • How does understanding the context of a work help in interpreting it?

Include the following in your paper:

• Name of the painting
• Name of the artist
• Date created
• Image of the painting

Week 2 Assignment: Essay – Painting Analysis & Reflection Answer 

An Analysis and Reflection on The Persistence of Memory

Salvador Dali’s iconic painting, The Persistence of Memory, is one of the surrealist movement’s most famous works of art. While it may be quite difficult to analyze all the symbolic images within this painting, it cannot be denied that Dali’s melting clocks stand out from everything else. The famous melting clocks were a great contributor to the success of surrealism. They not only represented the omnipresence of time and its mastery over everyone, but they also represented the technological advancements humans are capable of achieving.