Lucid Dreaming in Art

A friend recently posted this in a facebook group very relevant. Maybe we can start a Lucid dreaming art club

Maxfield Parrish was born on this day in 1870.

His artwork can evoke the lucid dream state. Parrish mastered the play of horizontal light and shadow that mark the transition between day and night, in order to tap into the deep subconscious response of the beholder.

There are many striking examples. ‘Daybreak (1922)’ was the most successful art print of the 20th century. The National Museum of American Illustration states that Daybreak has outsold Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans and Da Vinci’s Last Supper and that at one point one out of every four American homes had a copy hanging on their wall. The setting appears to be the kind of heaven realm sometimes visited in lucid dreams. It’s the moment that our main character awakens. She still processes a dream body. How else could she spend the night on a cold slab of marble and still wake up with a sublime smile? The guardian watching over her may represent her ‘dream signs’, the self-knowledge that triggers lucid awakening.

In ‘Garden of Allah (unknown)’, the colors are stunningly luminous. All of the pensive characters are identical, having been based on the same model, Parrish’s longtime muse Susan Lewin. In addition, they are further reflected in the pond. This has a double significance. The surface of the pond represents the diaphanous veil between daytime and nighttime consciousness. Also, in a dream, all characters are simply a reflected projection from the mind of the dreamer.

Images like these can be part of an ‘illusory form’ dream yoga practice. Just before going to sleep, spend a short time looking at the picture and notice the dream-like, fleeting nature of your waking consciousness. The more you do this, the more likely you will recognize this quality during a dream and become lucid.

I am not sure the picture will come through… I will try again if it does not

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I love Maxfield Parrish’s work. I like that idea for a LD-art exploration. The paintings that I seem to resonate to the most are those of Nicholas Roerich, a Russian painter active during the early 20th century. He traveled throughout Asia and did some remarkable work. Here are a few of his that inspire me (Wikiart-images in the public domain, in case @anybody asks :grinning:)

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I really like that artist, Barry. I will check him out.

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This artwork is amazing, @_Barry.

Great idea for a thread @paulmaben.

Thanks for posting!

Thank you for sharing this! You may find interest in the site below:

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Thanks for sharing this. Will check it out.

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