The Dream 1955

Here's an invitation to imagine how Balthus might have dreamed this scene into being with oil on canvas. You can almost see him, wrestling with the canvas, coaxing those strange and lovely colors to materialize. I can’t help but think about the texture. Balthus has created a world of subtle surfaces, soft fabrics, and muted tones. But there is a strange tension between the stillness of the sleeping figure and the alert pose of the other, between the comfort of the plush cushions and the unease of the girl’s outstretched hand, offering the poppy. What might it have been like to create such a composition? What choices did he have to make to get here? Looking at how the colors push and pull, I feel this painting connects to the work of other artists who explore interior psychological spaces. It's as if Balthus is whispering a secret, inviting us to lean in and wonder, offering an invitation to meditate on artmaking. It reminds us that painting is an ongoing conversation, and that each artist builds on the work of those who came before, and I am glad he came!