Location

225 German Expressionism & Surrealism

Fun Fact

Dali and other Surrealist artists created images depicting strange juxtapositions that are sometimes referred to as "dreamscapes."

Description

The Dream gives visual form to the strange, often disturbing world of dreams and hallucinations. Ants cluster over the face of the central figure, obscuring the mouth, while the sealed, bulging eyelids suggest the sensory confusion and frustration of a dream. The man at the far left - with a bleeding face and amputated left foot - refers to the classical myth of Oedipus, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. The column that grows from the man’s back and sprouts into a bust of a bearded man refers to the Freudian father, the punishing superego who suppresses the son’s sexual fantasies. In the distance, two men embrace, one holding a golden key or scepter symbolizing access to the unconscious. Behind them, a naked man reaches into a permeable red form, as if trying to enter it.

Provenance

c. 1930 - c. 1945-1951

Vicomte Charles [1891-1981] and Vicomtesse Marie-Laure de Noailles [1902-1970], Paris, by exchange to Félix Labisse ¹

By 1952 - at least 1972

Félix Labisse [1905-1982], Neuilly-sur-Seine, France ²

Before 1999

Gerrit Lansing [1942-2010] New York

By 1999 - 2001

Daniel Filipacchi [b. 1928] Paris/New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art Transfer Mode: Unknown ³

2001-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Provenance Footnotes

¹The Vicomte Charles de Noailles, Dalí's most important patron during his early Surrealist years, may have purchased the painting directly from Dalí, although further research is required to confirm or disprove this speculation. The Noailles certainly owned the painting by 1931, when they are listed as its owners in an exhibition at the Galerie Pierre Colle in Paris.

²Françoise Hersaint, wife of Surrealist collector Claude Hersaint and good friend of Labisse, thought that Labisse had acquired The Dream from the Noailles by exchange between 1945 and 1951, and recalled that when she first visited Labisse's home in 1952, the painting was already in his collection. Labisse certainly had the painting by 1956, when he is listed as its owner in a Dalí exhibition at the Casino de Knokke in Belgium.

³Weisberger, Edward. Surrealism, Two Private Eyes: The Nesuhi Ertegun and Daniel Filipacchi Collections. New York, N.Y.: Guggenheim Museum, 1999.

Citations

Pierre Colle (Firm). Exposition Salvador Dalí: du 3 au 15 juin 1931. Paris: Pierre Colle, 1931.

Exposition internationale du surréalisme, and André Breton. The International Surrealist Exhibition: Thursday, June 11th to Saturday, July 4th, 1936, New Burlington Galleries. London: International Surrealist Exhibition, English Committee, 1936.

Pauwels, Louis. Salvador Dalí Exposition, Knokke Le Zoute-Albert Plage, Casino Communal, 1 juillet-10 septembre 1956. Bruxelles: Éditions de la Connaissance, 1956.

Der surrealismus 1922-1942. München: Ausstellunseitung Hans der Kunst, 1972.

Martin-Méry, Gilberte. Bosch, Goya, et le fantastique; catalogue. Bordeaux, 20 mai-31 juillet, 1957. [Bordeaux]: [Imprimeries Delmas], 1957.

Sylvain Bellenger, email to William Robinson, April 13, 2001, in CMA curatorial file.

May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: p. 59' Mentioned: p. 58-59, 118

"A Selection of Museum Acquisitions." Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors (December 2001): 56. Reproduced: p. 56

Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major Salvador Dali Painting Acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art,” April 20, 2001, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org

Spies, Werner. La révolution surréaliste: exposition présentée au Centre Pompidou, Galerie 1, 6 mars-24 juin 2002. Paris, France: Centre Pompidou, 2002. Reproduced: p. 205

Spies, Werner. Die surrealistische Revolution. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2002. Reproduced: p. 209

Spies, Werner. Der Surrealismus: Kanon einer Bewegung. Köln, Germany: DuMont, 2003. Reproduced: p. 119

Ades, Dawn. Dalí: The Centenary Retrospective. London, United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson, 2004. Reproduced: p. 152-153

Robinson, William H., Jordi Falgàs, Carmen Belen Lord, and Josefina Alix Trueba. Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press, 2006. Reproduced: p. 352

Kolberg, Gerhard. Salvador Dalí: la Gare de Perpignan ; Pop, Op, Yes-yes, Pompier ; [Museum Ludwig, Köln, 18. März bis 25. Juni 2006]. Ostfildern. Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2006. Reproduced: p, 53, fig. 58

Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art. London, United Kingdom: Scala Books, 2012. Reproduced and mentioned: p. 314-315

Grenier, Catherine, and David Radzinowicz. Salvador Dalí: The Making of an Artist. Paris: Flammarion, 2012. Reproduced: P. 113

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 300

Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 23

Bergez, Daniel, and Kate Deimling. Painting the Dream: From the Biblical Dream to Surrealism. New York; London: Abbeville Press Publishers, 2018. Reproduced: P. 234, no. 177

Poullain, Christine, Dir. Le rêve. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais, 2016. Reproduced: p. 21, fig. 3

Roglán, Mark A. Spanish Art in America. Madrid, Spain : Ediciones El Viso 2016. Reproduced: p. 83

Bergez, Daniel. Peindre le rêve: des rêves bibliques au surréalisme.
Paris : Citadelles & Mazenod, 2017. Mentioned: p. 233; reproduced p. 234.

Descharnes, Robert, and Gilles Néret. Salvador Dali: The Paintings 1904-1989. Köln: Taschen, 2019. Reproduced: P. 165, no. 361

Dialer, Corinne. Oneirische Oszillation: Zum Neuzeitlichen Bildthema des Künstlertraums. Hildesheim: Olms; [München]: UB, Universitätsbibliothek Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 2022. Mentioned: P. 104, abb. 57; Reproduced: P. 244, abb. 57

Exhibition history

CMA Highlights. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 21, 2005 - September 11, 2005).

La Révolution surréaliste. Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris cedex O4, France (organizer) (March 6-June 24, 2002).

Dalí. Palazzo Grassi spa, 30124 Venice, Italy (organizer) (September 12, 2004-January 16, 2005); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (February 16-May 30, 2005).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).

Barcelona & Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí (1868-1939). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15, 2006-January 7, 2007); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (co-organizer) (March 4-June 3, 2007).