Henri Rousseau The Dream
Monday, July 14th, 2008
Henri Rousseau’s painting The Dream, created by Rousseau in 1910, is typical of his work: bizarre, dreamlike, and set in a jungle.
The Dream’s first notable figure is that of a naked woman lounging on a chair. Because the rest of the painting is done in greens and browns your eyes are drawn immediately to her. As you look down the length of her arm, however, your eye is invariably drawn to the rest of the scene: birds perched in trees, huge flowers blooming almost unnaturally, a snake winding its way out of the plants, and a pair of lions at the feet of a native man playing some kind of wind instrument.
What does it mean? Well, that’s open to interpretation. It could be that the woman has nothing to fear from nature, and thus can go so far as sitting alone, naked, in a jungle, without fear of hurt. As with any good painting, however, this meaning can be personal for everybody looking at the painting.
Rousseau finished The Dream not long before his death, as he also died in 1910.