Artist – Petrov -Vodkin
The appearance of the picture at the exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists caused a deafening polemic in the press. Ilya Repin called the artist "non -teaching", imitative "Incuts" Matisse and Gauguin. Alexander Benois, Leon Bakst evaluated in the picture the integrity of the shapes and severity of the drawing. Petrov-Vodkin could not understand the scandalous glory so unexpectedly falling on him; He noted that he believes "into the exaggeration of oneself, in the reference of the language – accessories and color". The artist spoke of the idea of an approaching awakening encrypted in the picture, about an imminent readiness to shake away sleepy numbness, about a revival to life, a symbol of which is the revitalized volcano depicted in the distance.
It is known that the prototype of the picture served as the allegory of the early Raphael “Sleep of the Knight”, which Petrov-Vodkin translated into the language of symbolism. The deserted, fantastic of the landscape, the mystery of the plot come to the idea that the artist creates the image of sleep, mysterious and inexplicable. The theme close to the symbolists of the Bannies, but unlike their unsteady visions, the dream in this picture gains real flesh.
Clear verification, static composition, workshop, transmission of plastics of naked bodies indicates the interest of a painter in neoclassicism.
The painting “Dream” is characteristic of the early work of Petrov-Vodkin, the period of searches of his special place in the art of the 20th century.
