Sunday, September 25, 2011
The Nightmare
Just as literary fiction goes hand in hand with film, often poetry has been linked hand in with art. To explore this relationship and to celebrate the upcoming month of October (truly, the most wonderful time of the year) look at the picture below (Fuseli's The Nightmare). Explicate the painting as you would a poem. What is the painting depicting? What is significant about the title? What are the fears of the painter? What is your impression. Explicate away....
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McKenzie Johnson
ReplyDeleteThis painting is depicts a woman in a deep sleep I believe, because the title of the painting is Fuseli's The Nightmare, and to have a nightmare you must be asleep. This painter fears horses as you can tell from the horse leaning over the woman in the background of the picture, also I believe the painter is afraid of being ugly or of monkeys ( the thing over the woman). My impression is that the painter is of Gothic times which explains the dark and grotesque nature of this painting.
Kayla Hernandez
ReplyDeleteThe painting depicts a troll/monkey like thing sitting on top of a woman who I believe to be dead. The significance of the title is that what is occuring is the painter's worst nightmare(remembering or re-living a past traumatic event) I think the painter killed someone close to him or someone else killed someone who was close to him, but I think the situation involved a horse and the painter is scared of the horse because it makes him remember this event. My impression is that he hasn't truly forgetten whatever happened and this painting expresses his feelings associated with the situation. I agree with McKenzie that the painting has a dark and grotesque nature, but I believe it was made that way to demonstrate how depressed and lost he is because of whatever happened.
Tori Miller
ReplyDeleteI believe I remember seeing this painting when i was doing research on a condition that I get from time to time - but i forget what it's called. But basically it's where I wake up but my body can't move, it feels as though something (or someone) heavy is on top of me. Alot of people believe that spirits or demons do that to humans as a form of torture. I honestly dont know if that was his purpose for painting this, but that is something personal that I get out of the picture. To alot of people, that condition happens after they have a nightmare, so maybe he is afraid of having another nightmare and waking up not being able to move. Or he may see the situation itself as a "nightmare" because it is scary to feel as though, even for a couple of minutes, that your body is out of your control.
Jessica Vilberg
ReplyDeleteI believe that the painting depicts the women's worse nightmare, which would be taken over or controlled by her demons or fears (the little guy on her)The title must be referring to everything in the picture that haunts her. The horse could be someone she feels is always watching her and she can't hide from them. Instead of it being all about a dark nature, I believe that it shows more distress and anxiety that she feels.
Keith Knudsen
ReplyDeleteIn Fuseli's "The Nightmare", you see a horse, a devil looking monkey-troll-goblin thing and a dead woman. The signifigance of the dead woman is that she represents two of mankinds (and the painters) most primal fears; Death and the unknown. The title is aptly named; it is a nightmare. Nightmares are composed of our fears. A more modern fear of humans is of what happens after death. Most cultures today have some concept of the devil or some evil being, and all religions tell of some way to avoid eternal pain and fear. The presence of the obese cretin perching on the womans chest adds to the effect of the grief and fear of death and what happens after (the devil monkey). Behind the gloomy characters in the art, you see a curtain. The curtain could represent what the painter doesnt know, what he/she will never know. It means, like a curtain, we can be right behind death and be SO close to it yet still be clueless what could be on the other side.. as for the horse, i have no idea what it is and I feel like I should throw in something about the Hans Case study but... hah i'll leave it at just its mad creepy and adds to the overall effect of the painting.
Brianna Parlette
ReplyDeleteThis picture is really creepy but it has a lot of meaning to it, I believe. I think that the lady died with all her demons watching her. She was grieved by her demons. I think that the dragon peeping in the curtain could be like her monsters were hiding where ever she went. She had many fears in her life and that's where the title comes in dealing with nightmares. The devil sitting on her stomach can mean that when she died the devil came out and is looking for someone new to torture to death. The devil is looking at the viewer witch could mean like a your next kinda thing. The lady is wearing white and I think that represents the innocence in her. Meaning even the pure and innocent can be tricked by our demons and devils. They're always out to get someone no matter who. Also the white could mean that she gave up. Like how people wave white flags when they are in danger or in need of help. She needed help and support to get away and outbeat the evil. The yellow sheet could show her cowardness as to running away from the evil. She was a easy prey and couldn't outrun them, she was easily tricked by them. The red could represent the life lost. Her life lost.
Kristien Salisbury
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this painting is crazy... I think that obviously by the name the painter's worst fears or his nightmares show. The monkey thing could represent the inner demon that could be very harmful because the woman looks dead. The colors are dark so it means the situation is serious I'm honestly stumped about the black horse... The woman is dead maybe suicide? She has bottles on the table.
Jamaal Roberson
ReplyDeleteThis painting shows a long night that never happend...The woman obviously was about to get it in with some man and she's wearing her best "Get It" outfit and then she fell asleep after her man didn't come so she fell asleep thinking about what would of happend.So that's when the devilistic sinning thoughts manifested into the demon on her and the "ghost-horse" appeared to observe it all.
this painting depicts of a young girl about the age of 25. she is having a deep and dasteredly dream of her greatest fear s and or troubles. The horse represents her old fears that she has tries to forget but still lurks in the darkness. The ogre thing representss her current and most fearful fear that she is trying to get rid of yet it sits there upon her chest and is unable to be removed!!!
ReplyDelete-Brandon Bernard
Onecia Burton
ReplyDeleteThe demon-like creature on the sleeping woman could be symbolic of a "weight" or "pressure" felt by the woman that she cant escape - not even in sleep. She may have went through a traumatic event causing her to have this nightmare. The horse in the back could symbolize the fear not ever going away. It will always haunt her from the shadows, even if she manages to get the pressure of it off her chest. How she is laid out could be symbolic of her helplessness to her situation. She cant get the pressure of nightmares/traumatic events off her chest nor can she seem to forget. So, her body language demonstrates her being unable to shake these things off .
Mickale Foard
ReplyDeleteThe picture shows a woman allowing her inner demons get the best of her in this room. By the beautiful things in the room she probably has done very illegal or not worthy things to get them and now her past has come back to get her, also the horse shows how she only had fake friends around her and they are just going to watch her sink instead of help her. His nightmare might have been the his inner demons get the best of him and no one is there to help him.