The Dream
/Will Barnet
1998
American, 1911-2012
Lithograph
Loan from the Estate of Will Barnet, made possible by Harmon-Meek Gallery
Alfred Hitchcock, anyone? The narrative possibilities here are as broad as they come — truly, the story of this woman or this dream can take so many forms, and all will be correct — although many viewers will find immediate cinematic and literary echoes abounding in this classic Barnet print. Are we inside of this figure’s dreaming mind? Are we having a dream ourselves? Are we outside this window and is she looking back at us? Are we one of the birds reflected in the window? Or might the meaning of “dream” here be something entirely unrelated to sleep?