Disturbed Sleep 1951

Editor: This is "Disturbed Sleep," painted in 1951 by Jan Cox. It’s a mixed-media work, primarily a painting but with definite drawing elements too. I’m struck by the figure’s pose and the abstract shapes around it. What's your read on the work, Curator? Curator: It feels to me like a very honest depiction of vulnerability. You know, the exposed torso, the closed eyes... but it's the looming shapes that really set the scene. They’re like anxieties, shapeless fears crowding in. What kind of sleep do you think this is? Refreshing? Terrifying? Or maybe, just… real? Editor: It definitely feels uneasy, not restful at all. I guess that’s the disturbance the title refers to! Is it an Expressionist take on a classic portrait? Curator: Precisely. Cox uses that raw, emotional energy we associate with Expressionism. Think Munch, think Nolde. But he’s stripping away the details, reducing the figure and the space to these essential, almost primal forms. It’s not just a likeness; it’s a feeling. That dark smudge around the mouth... does it look like suffering, maybe? Editor: Yes, definitely a sense of discomfort. What I thought at first was shading I now see as a symbol of, yes, you’re right, suffering. What does it say about Cox, you think, that he explored those intense themes? Curator: Well, for me, this suggests that Cox, like many artists of the time, was grappling with the psychological aftermath of war and uncertainty. Perhaps we all recognize something of ourselves in this vulnerable figure, thrashing amidst turbulent dreams. Don't you agree? Editor: I do. It is more than just a portrait of troubled sleep, more like all of us who wake up in a sweat, remembering the absurdity of dreams and what anxieties come to visit at night. Curator: Right, or that space we get to explore as if everything makes sense and nothing matters; I'm glad we could arrive to that understanding.