This painting was famous in its era. But is it really dream art, or just allegory? I haven't been able to find evidence for or against it--unlike Henri Rousseau's more famous The Dream a generation later, which Rousseau himself said was based on a dream--not his own, but a friend's.

Whether dream-based or not, this image hints how the Symbolists saw dreams a generation before Freud, when dream researchers like Hervey de St. Denys saw dreams mechanically, as responses to stimuli during sleep or from that day. But the Symbolists are as psychodynamic as Freud, and more blatant--the figures tempt the dreamer, personify desires more directly. Mythic. But to my eye, generic. As blandly universal as Jungian archetypes can sometimes get. This just doesn't feel like a real, personal dream. But maybe that's me.

--Chris Wayan

World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sh - Si-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites