The Dream by Henri Rousseau (Interpretation and Analysis)

-
The Dream by Henri Rousseau
The Dream
Source: Google Cultural Institute

To me, this painting is a poem in visual form.

What I mean by that is that The Dream is an object of great beauty, but it doesn’t make much sense from a narrative perspective. If you ask me, the painting exists for the sake of beauty alone. It doesn’t necessarily have a message; instead, the painting is exactly what its title suggests: an extravagant, otherworldly dream.

Henri Rousseau, the painter, is an interesting figure in the history of French painting. He was a naïve artist, meaning that he didn’t have formal artistic training.

Perhaps as a consequence of this, his work has a very specific look, characterized by a lack of shading or definition, the use of bright colors, and an absence of three dimensional space. To twenty first century viewers, his work probably feels very modern. There is an element of directness and candor to his work that feels fresh and original. The Dream is one of his famous jungle paintings, based off of his visits to the botanical gardens of Paris.

The Dream depicts a naked woman (who has been identified as Rousseau’s mistress, Yadwigha), reclining on a sofa among a backdrop of exotic trees and animals, including lions and a bright pink snake. Another woman, dressed in a brightly colored skirt plays a flute; Rousseau identified her as a snake-charmer in contemporary descriptions.

The painting has been interpreted as a representation of Yadwigha’s dreams, a form of escapism from her workaday life in France. It could alternately be understood as a modern reimagining of Eden, a subject very common throughout the history of Western art. Under this interpretation, the painting becomes a symbol of a perfect, though unattainable world.

To my mind, the true significance of the piece is somewhere in between. The painting is abstract in meaning, if not in composition. As I’ve said before, I believe it exists for the sake of beauty, but in some indefinable way, it also manages to appeal to the desire of ordinary people to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. In its abstraction and otherworldliness, The Dream transports the viewer to another plane of being, far from the grimy streets of twentieth century Europe.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Le Chat Aux Poissons Rouges by Henri Matisse (Interpretation and Analysis)

-
Image
Le Chat Aux Poissons Rouges Source: Pinterest French artist Henri Matisse is rather famous for his paintings of goldfish. In fact, one of his most famous paintings, entitled Goldfish , depicts several of the aforementioned fish swimming in a bowl. Matisse is one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century. His work is closely associated with the Fauvist movement and is generally characterized by great energy and rich, intense colors. Based on my research , Matisse began painting goldfish after he traveled to North Africa. In Morocco, Matisse observed locals watching goldfish swim in their bowls as they sunk into a meditative state. The fish subsequently became a symbol for this sense of tranquility, coming to represent an idyllic version of the world only accessible through joyous day-dreams. These calming fish are prominent in this painting, which is entitled Le Chat Aux Poissons Rouges (which translates to The Cat With Red Fishes ). However, the serene energy of the fish
Read more

Five Puerto Rican Artists You Should Know

-
Image
The island of Puerto Rico has a long and vibrant artistic tradition. Western, Indigenous, and African cultures have all left their mark on Puerto Rican art, creating a colorful and unique visual legacy. While Puerto Rican artists have demonstrated their excellence throughout the years— from the creators of the captivating Taino petroglyphs to the sophisticated and subtle works of the Modernist painters—Puerto Rican art has received little attention from art historians and the wider art world. Here are five underappreciated Puerto Rican artists that you should know: 1. José Campeche José Campeche is often known as the first Puerto Rican painter in the Western history of fine arts. He was primarily known for his religious paintings and his portraits of elite Puerto Ricans, and today his work is recognized as some of the finest examples of Rococo art produced in the Americas. Campeche’s personal story is also inspiring. The son of a slave who had purchased his own freedom, Campech
Read more

Mural La Plena by Rafael Tufiño (Interpretation and Analysis)

-
Image
Mural la Plena Source: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico Today I want to chat about a monumental piece of art that I recently had the pleasure of seeing at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. As the name suggests, Mural La Plena is a massive mural, fifteen by thirty feet in size, that was created by Puerto Rican artist Rafael Tufiño to commemorate la plena, a wildly popular genre of music that was born in the city of Ponce around 1900. The mural, which might appear abstract or incomprehensible to a viewer unfamiliar with the subject matter, illustrates the lyrics of popular plena songs. For example, the blue-green figure that dominates the upper half of the mural represents the hurricane from the plena “Temporal,” which mourns the destruction caused by a storm. Plena, as a genre, tells stories. According to my research , the lyrics come from current events, re-telling the stories that affected the lives of the people of Ponce. It began as a way for people of low socio-economic sta
Read more