Significant Form

     The significant form theory is described by Bell by stating, “In each, lines and colours combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions. These relations and combinations of lines and colours, these aesthetically moving forms, I call "Significant Form"; and "Significant form" is the one quality common to all works of visual art” (1997).  

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory, 1931

    The persistence of Memory is an example of having significant form. The painting appeals to the emotions of the viewer. I personally feel a sense of eerie and stillness from the piece, but the great thing is, the emotion the work portrays can vary from person to person. The lines in the piece are irregular and vary from straight points to bending curves. Dali sticks to a color theme of blues, yellows, and oranges and allures to the emotional content of the piece. The image is meant to look like a dream and has a bright and almost cinematic quality. 

    The piece by Dali is one example of how the theory of significant form can be used to dissect a work of art and better understand the emotion that is being conveyed.

“art” by Clive Bell. (n.d.). https://home.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361r13.html