I came across a remarkable quote from the French writer Gustave Flaubert yesterday. The purpose of art, he said, is first to make you see, and then to set you dreaming. I think that is perfectly wonderful!
Commonly, of course, the real;ationship between art and dreams is presented the other way round. It is the artist who dreams, and these dreams are then transmitted into art. The job of artists is to offer their dreams to the public at large. My understanding of Flaubert, on the other hand, is that he is interested in the consequences of the encounter with art on the part of the viewer, or in his case as a writer, the reader. In this dispensation it is not the function of the viewer simply to register the vision of the artist, and to record that which the artist sees. The job of the artist is to make others see their world differently, and much more than this, to enable them to “dream”. By this I understand that we are enabled to reach beyond the world as it is in its present banality, but to explore it in our own imaginations.
This is a wonderful idea …. but a stern requirement. Certainly he has managed to formulate an ambition for art that I find attractive. The requirement that my painting might enable viewers to “see” the world is challenging, but an acceptable ambition. It is humbling, however, to reflect on the question of whether or not my art does enable the view to “dream”.