Dream Art
The symbolists and the surrealists are especially well known for their dream imagery. Pre-symbolist artists such as William Blake, John Henry Fuseli, Francisco de Goya and others also delved into the world of dreams and served as inspiration for later artists.
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Artists of the symbolist movement explored the inner world of the mind and portrayed what they experienced there including dreams, nightmares, and visions. They also created visual representations of things not normally experienced visually such as music. Their work was often influenced by drugs, hypnotism, spiritualism and the occult.
The symbolists painted ethereal worlds filled with mythological figures and landscapes transformed by the mind's eye. For example Odilon Redon's Muse on Pegasus, a hazy depiction of a winged horse and rider in the midst of brilliantly colored clouds that seem to merge with the mountains in the background while fanciful over-sized flowers bloom in the foreground. (see below far right)
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The surrealists explored the inner world of the mind as the symbolists did but in a different way. Influenced by Sigmund Freud's ideas about dream interpretation they, like Freud, attempted to access the unconscious part of the mind which they believed could be done by dreaming.
The symbolists existed before Freud and were unaware of the origin and meaning of dreams, when they accessed their dreams they felt they were accessing unknown or spiritual realms rather than a part of their own inner selves.
Within the dreaming mind the surrealists discovered a strange beauty, a world where everyday things took on new meaning as they behaved bizarrely and intermingled with unrelated objects in dramatic and unexpected ways. In viewing these scenes we are given a glimpse inside the artist's mind and the opportunity to interpret his dreams.
See also: Fantasy, Spiritual
IASD Art Galleries
Art exhibits for The International Association for the Study of Dreams.
Sleeping and Dreaming
An exhibition at Wellcome Collection that combines art and science to explore sleep, includes online image galleries and related resources.
Electric Dreams - Covers Gallery
Ezine covers featuring dream inspired artwork.
Tate Britain: Gothic Nightmares
An online guide to a past exhibition at the Tate, includes information about Henry Fuseli, William Blake, James Gillray, and others plus a selection of works and further resources.
Resources
We all have Dreaming Minds
An article on Gothic Nightmares from Tate Etc. - Europe's largest art magazine.
Wikipedia: Dream Art
Includes a brief history of dreams in art and a list of notable works based on dreams.
About using Wikipedia as an Academic Resource
References & Suggested Reading
Packer, Sharon. Dreams in Myth, Medicine, and Movies. US: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.
Image Credits (in order of appearance)
Janmot, Anne Francois Louis. (1814-1892). Poem of the Soul - The nightmare, 1854. Oil on canvas, 143 x 113 cm. Musee des Beaux-Arts, France.
Blake, William. (1757 - 1827). Jacob's Ladder, c. 1799-1806. Pencil and watercolor, 30.734 x 39.878 cm. Private collection.
Fuseli, Henry. (1741 - 1825). The Nightmare, 1781. Oil on canvas, 127 x 101 cm. Institute of Arts, Detroit.
Goya, Francisco. (1746 - 1828). The Sleep of Reason brings forth Monsters, c. 1798. Ink on paper, 15 x 21.5 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Mellery, Xavier. (1845 - 1921). Autumn, c. 1890. Watercolor, ink, charcoal and black chalk on paper mounted on cardboard, 92 x 59 cm. Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium.
Hiremy-Hirschl, Adolph. (1860 - 1933). Ahasuerus at the End of the World. Oil on canvas. Private collection.
Watts, George Frederic. (1817 - 1904). Hope. Oil on canvas, 1,118 x 1,422 cm. Tate, Britain.
Redon, Odilon. (1840 - 1916). Muse on Pegasus, 1900. 73 × 54 cm.
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