Submerged in Slumber

 Nicoletta Ceccoli, Beedream, 2007 

 Marie Francois Constance Mayer-Lamartiniere, The Sleep of Venus and Cupid, 1806

John Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare, 1781

Zhao Kailin, The Dream Back to Tang Dynasty, 2010

Elena Kalis, Sleep Walking

Felix Vallotton, Sleep, 1908

Lucian Freud, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, 1995

Forrest Jessee, Sleep Suit, 2006

Chu Yun, The Sleeping Women, 2009

 Henry Peach Robinson, Sleep, 1867

Sleep, a deep well of inspiration for countless artists; like the moon that pulls on poets. Something so elusive yet so pertinent to our beings, an enigma that once we surrender to, consumes us whole. As the night-sky blinks its black dusty wings above our faces, we enter into a state where the unimaginable can reveal itself... winding into the labyrinth of our unconscious minds "chance becomes direction that we cannot see; discord, harmony not understood". A fragile thread streaming inside of us, wanting to connect us to the next piece of the patterned patchwork puzzle.

Art After Dark

Hirofu Iso / Komainu, Once Night Falls, 2007

James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875

Sam Weber

Jade Klara, The Metro Tail

Ivan Bilibin, Vasilisa the Beautiful, 1899

Taddeo Gaddi, The Angelic Announcement to the Shepards, 1328

The 14th-century artist, Taddeo Gaddi, was intrigued by light and its effects and so he channeled this fascination into his oil paintings. "The Angelic Announcement to the Shepards" shown above, is considered to be the first image in the history of art to depict a scene at nighttime. 

It is interesting to contrast Gaddi's artwork with "Once Night Falls" featured at the top of this thread by Hirofu Iso / Komainu as one can envision how art has transmuted from The Medieval Period to The Twentieth Century; contemporary art often shies away from traditional painting techniques and dips into a diverse range of multimedia in the creation of conceptual installations that generate an experiential atmosphere for the viewer.