Painting the dream: from the biblical dream to surrealism, hardcover/daniel bergez

The first-ever history of the representation of dreams in Western painting, illustrated with works by more than 130 artists Organized by period, from the Middle Ages to the present, this engaging book shows how the idea of the dream, and its depictions, have shifted throughout history, from the biblical dream--a communication from God--to the deeply personal dream, the lighthearted fantasy, the nightmare.

Sometimes these ideas have existed simultaneously: thus we have, only a few years apart, Raphaels limpid High Renaissance composition of Jacob dreaming his Ladder; Albrecht D rers watercolor of a mysterious deluge that he saw in his own slumbers; and Hieronymus Boschs nightmarish hellscapes.

More recently, movements such as Symbolism and Surrealism have taken the dream as a primary source of inspiration, even conflating dreaming and the creative process itself.

This rich vein of visionary art runs from Gustave Moreau and Odilon Redon, through De Chirico and Dal , down to the present--demonstrating, as Bergez reminds us, that Morpheus was a god of form as well as of dreams.

About the Author: Daniel Bergez is a scholar, curator, and critic whose work focuses on the relationship between painting and literature.

His books in French include Literature and Painting ; To Paint, To Write: The Dialogue of the Arts ; The Salon and Its Artists ; and Gao Xingjian: Painter of the Soul , which won the Prix Bernier of the Acad mie des Beaux-Arts.

Bergez is also a painter whose work is regularly exhibited in France, the U.

, China, and Japan.