Tempera on wood
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-armstrong-665" aria-label="More by John Armstrong" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Armstrong</a>
Dreaming Head
Purchased 1938
actions: processes and functions
adults
body
cliff
coast
convolvulus
diseases and conditions
dreaming
emotions, concepts and ideas
head / face
landscape
mystery
people
plants and flowers
rocky
sea
seascapes and coasts
sleeping
universal concepts
woman
<p>Armstrong had a strong love of the countryside, which stemmed from a childhood spent in a small Sussex village. This manifested itself in his work through a meticulous depiction of flowers and leaves, seen prominently in this painting. Influenced by the Surrealist movement, he worked in a style that presented objects with great clarity along with a sense of mystery.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting tempera wood
1 February 2001 – 2 June 2003
2003-06-02
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2001-02-01
Modern British Art II
Collection based display
6 October 2010 – 25 April 2011
2011-04-25
6 October 2010 – 30 January 2011
2011-01-30
2010-10-06
Millennium Gallery (Sheffield, UK)
http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk
19 February 2011 – 25 April 2011
2011-04-25
2011-02-19
Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery (Norwich, UK)
http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
9 May 2011 – 6 November 2011
2011-11-06
2011-05-09
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-10-06
GBAD: Restless Times: Modern British Art 1914 - 1945
Loan-out
4 November 2011 – 30 September 2012
2012-09-30
4 November 2011 – 29 January 2012
2012-01-29
2011-11-04
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
25 February 2012 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
2012-02-25
Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (Rovereto, Italy)
http://www.mart.trento.it
23 June 2012 – 30 September 2012
2012-09-30
2012-06-23
Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg, Germany)
http://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de
2011-11-04
Alice in Wonderland
Exhibition
25 February 2012 – 30 September 2012
2012-09-30
25 February 2012 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
2012-02-25
Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (Rovereto, Italy)
http://www.mart.trento.it
15 June 2012 – 30 September 2012
2012-09-30
2012-06-15
Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg, Germany)
http://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de
2012-02-25
Alice in Wonderland
Loan-out
5 June 2017 – 25 November 2017
2017-11-25
5 June 2017 – 3 September 2017
2017-09-03
2017-06-05
Atkinson Art Gallery (Southport, UK)
16 September 2017 – 25 November 2017
2017-11-25
2017-09-16
Penlee House Gallery & Museum (Penzance, UK)
2017-06-05
John Armstrong: Dream and Reality
Loan-out
27 March 2021 – 18 April 2027
2027-04-18
27 March 2021 – 31 December 2021
2021-12-31
2021-03-27
Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK)
http://www.vam.ac.uk
25 February 2022 – 11 June 2022
2022-06-11
2022-02-25
Chaoyang Joy City (Beijing, China)
16 July 2022 – 10 October 2022
2022-10-10
2022-07-16
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
10 December 2022 – 5 March 2023
2023-03-05
2022-12-10
Abeno Museum (Osaka, Japan)
2021-03-27
Wonderland: Curiouser and Curiouser
Loan-out
17 December 2024 – 21 June 2025
2025-06-21
17 December 2024 – 21 June 2025
2025-06-21
2024-12-17
The Israel Museum (Jerusalem, Israel)
http://www.imj.org.il
2024-12-17
Lucid Dreams
Loan-out
Dreaming Head
support: 478 × 794 mm
frame: 654 × 966 × 84 mm
Purchased 1938
<p>Armstrong had a strong love of the countryside, which stemmed from a childhood spent in a small Sussex village. This manifested itself in his work through a meticulous depiction of flowers and leaves, seen prominently in this <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a>. Influenced by the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism" title="Glossary definition for 'Surrealism'"><span>Surrealist</span></a> movement, he worked in a style that presented objects with great clarity along with a sense of mystery. </p>
Display caption
2004-09-08T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N04934</b> DREAMING HEAD 1938
<br/> 
<br/>Inscr. ‘JA [in monogram] 38’ b.l.
<br/>Tempera on wood, 18 1/4×30 3/4 (46·5×78).
<br/>Purchased from the artist through Reid and Lefevre (Clarke Fund) 1938.</p>
<p>An entirely imaginary <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> of a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism" title="Glossary definition for 'Surrealism'"><span>Surrealist</span></a> kind, with a deliberate ambiguity of scale and content. The ‘dreaming head’ takes the form of a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/plaster-of-paris" title="Glossary definition for 'Plaster of Paris'"><span>plaster</span></a> <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/cast" title="Glossary definition for 'Cast'"><span>cast</span></a> of a woman's head set down in a coast <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a> of chalk cliffs, and convolvulus flowers sprout from its base.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-06T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: processes and functions adults body cliff coast convolvulus diseases and conditions dreaming emotions, concepts and ideas head / face landscape mystery people plants and flowers rocky sea seascapes and coasts sleeping universal concepts woman