![]() ![]() Odilon Redon, nicknamed “king of dreams” by the art critic Thadée Natanson, was a figurehead of Symbolism. Symbolism was born in reaction to Naturalism and Realism, artistic movements which only depicted tangible and visible things. The subjects and objects of Symbolists only acquire meaning through their symbolic representation. Estranged from a society involved with scientific ideology, Symbolism aimed to explore the dreams of the invisible and the mysteries of the subconscious. In the 19th century, the dream in art was at the heart of the symbolist aesthetic. ![]() Symbolism, between the world of dreams and nightmares As a result, the observer bears witness to this nightmare that Fussli has presented, which exemplifies the most morbid and fantastical elements of dreaming.Ĭaspar David Friedrich, Der Träumer, 1835-1840 The chiaroscuro, the contortion of the body and the phantasmagorical beings unveil the tortured soul of this sleeping woman. The piece by the British artist Johann Heinrich Füssli is a dream painting which explores the subject of an odalisque – a nude woman lying down – in order to evoke the torments of the sleeping spirit. ![]() To the Romantics, dreaming was an escape, but also a revelation of what was deep in one’s soul.Ī perfect representation of dark dreams can be found in The Nightmare. This was a group dedicated to the study and experience of drugs, in which the doctor Moreau de Tour analyzed their dreams and hallucinations. The painter Eugène Delacroix for example participated in the “Club des Haschinschins”. The Romantics experimented with many substances in order to achieve a dreamlike state. Daydreams were a way for artists to completely leave themselves in order to experience another world. During this period, subjectivity became the heart of inspiration for artists, and dreaming an infinite source of inspiration for self exploration! The first German Romantics called dreaming the “Zweite Welt”, or the “second world”. With Romanticism, the 18th century brought about a change to freedom of artistic expression of the personal dream in paintings. Raphaël, The Dream of Jacob, 1518 Dreams of Romantic artists “recreating the world” Secondly, the staircase effectively symbolises the spirit’s ascension, and the path to achieve transcendence. The canvas is darkened, but the soul of Jacob, accompanied by angels, is brighter and appears raised into the heavens. Consequently, the first artist to paint a dream of their own was Albrecht Dürer, in his watercolor painting The Vision in 1525.įor instance, Raphaël perfectly demonstrates a representation of a religious dream in his painting The Dream of Jacob. The personal dream only became legitimized much later. Therefore the painter of the dream, principally in response to the demands of the Church, depicted religious figures inspired by the New Testament. A painting of a dream had a specific meaning it was a way to access the higher realm and divine truth. Instead, it is inspired by religious narratives to depict biblical dreams. Subsequently, dream art in the 15th and 16th centuries does not actually depict the artist’s dream. That is to say when the soul, at rest, leaves the body and encounters higher beings. During the Renaissance era, dreaming was solely presented as a religious experience. Its representation has therefore transformed over time, always expanding somewhat in definition as a result. Today, often perceived as a manifestation of the subconscious and the psyche, dreaming is a theme which has greatly evolved throughout the history of art. Pablo Picasso, The Dream, 1910 The Renaissance, a biblical and mythological depiction of dream painting ![]()
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