this is a small, framed painting, in a dreamlike landscape, giant watches dominate the foreground. but they ’ re like no watch you ’ d find in the waking world : they ’ re soft, and they ’ re draped over other objects in the scenery like discarded clothing. beginning with the landscape, it seems to be a desolate coastal region. the bottom two – thirds of the canvas is occupied by a dark brown, flat expanse of sand that is deep in shadow. but the upper portion of the sand is a lighter brown, with the calm, light blue sea in the distance ; and the top third of the painting has yellow sky that graduates into deep blue at the very top of the painting. the position of the objects in this painting will be indicated using the analogy of the face of a clock. at the top right, or at one o ’ clock, a sunlit high ridge of rocky land juts into the sea. in the bottom left of the painting, from 7 o ’ clock to 9 o ’ clock is the corner of a brown wooden platform upon which the artist ’ s signature is barely visible. from it sprouts a grayish, withered tree : lopped off at the top, with not a leaf in sight, extending one thin branch out to the right. over this branch is draped one of the watches. it ’ s an old – fashioned. a second, similar pocket watch is draped over the edge of the platform below. it ’ s huge, almost the same size as the stunted tree above it. the lower half hangs limply over the edge, like an over – ripe cheese melting in the sun. it is gold with a blue face and the time reads 6 : 55. a fly sits just below the 12 and casts a shadow on the face of the watch. a third watch lies below and just to the left of it – a gold one, its face hidden in its case. it ’ s crawling with ants : an unexpected and disconcerting sight. 