Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci has been described as the greatest genius the world has ever known, and for good reason. He was a dreamer inspired to be a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a musical composer, a writer and an outstanding inventor. He designed an aeroplane and a submarine 500 years before they appeared in the twentieth century.

A genius is a visionary and a visionary is a dreamer. We are all dreamers and we may all be visionaries but we are not all geniuses. The difference between the da Vincis of this world and others, is that they can pluck a thought or an idea that comes to them in the still of the night, in a dream and create from it reality. To them, the true world is their inner world. Above all, they are good listeners, not only to other people but to that small, quiet voice within.

Dreams of the famous and infamous throughout the ages have without doubt helped to make history and shape our present way of life. In essence, however, their dreams are no different in any way from our dreams. We all have prophetic dreams, warning dreams and inspirational dreams just as they did, but if we do not accept them as sources of power and original thought, and acknowledge that we can obtain from them all information and solutions we can possibly need during our lifetime, they will be content to remain in the background like shy friends.
Recognize them, however, and immediately they step forward and begin to put our house, the mansion of our soul, in order. But, llike Professor Kekule said, we must first learn to dream.

DREAMS, ART and SURREALISM

Biblical and historical dreams have provided artists with exciting subjects to paint since at least the eleventh century but it was not until the surrealist movement came along that dreams were psychologically captured in essence and in feeling. Surrealism, the name given to an artistic group in France in 1924, endeavoured to express dreams, the action of the unconscious mind, on to canvas. Although nightmares were no stranger to the imagination of the artist, Goya in particular excelling in this respect, none had tried to convey the atmosphere and symbolic message of the dream-experience until this time. 'Surrealism is based on a belief in the omnipotence of the dream', said Andre Breton, often called the Pope of the Surrealist movement.
Reaching its heyday in the 1930's the influence responsible for its emergence was clearly that of psychoanalysis. With Freud's emphasis on free association of ideas, laced with sexual repression and Jung's symbolism; paintings appeared that shocked the world to its artistic roots. And even today there are those who, not caring to understand dreams, let alone art, dismiss this art as total rubbish.

Salvador Dali's paintings, with titles like ' The Persistence of Memory' 'The Birth of Liquid Desires' ' The Spectre of Sex Appeal' are clearly reflections of Freudian-type dreams. Melting telephones and furniture, watches, crutches, barren beaches. Eerily produce appropriate, dreamlike atmospheres of general un-ease and obsession. In contrast, Max Ernest, with his 'Robing of the Bride' and 'The Eye of Silver' fills his scenes with archetypal forests, blazing suns, bird-headed women, rocks towering to the sky, silent swamps and mysterious figures all very much in keeping with the traditional Jungian concept of dreams.

Other artists in this group went on to paint anxiety dreams, portraying strong feelings of fear and terror in one form or another. Hypnagogic dreams were a popular subject, too, showing images falling half-way between sleep and the waking state. Here to stay, surrealism certainly opened the door on our inner world and in so doing, contributed in its own way towards a better understanding of art, ourselves and, of course, dreams too, for dreams are very much like paintings.