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Analyse this: has Freud's sofa become a religious relic? Analyse this: has Freud's sofa become a religious relic?
(6 days later)
The shadow of Sigmund Freud still looms over modern culture. Freud is so famous that his couch is venerated like a religious relic. An exhibit at the Freud Museum in London in September lets visitors see the process of restoring the celebrated piece of furniture upon which patients once relayed their dreams to the inventor of psycholanalysis.The shadow of Sigmund Freud still looms over modern culture. Freud is so famous that his couch is venerated like a religious relic. An exhibit at the Freud Museum in London in September lets visitors see the process of restoring the celebrated piece of furniture upon which patients once relayed their dreams to the inventor of psycholanalysis.
The Freud Museum is the house in north London where Freud spent the last part of his life, surrounded by his art collection and books, after the Nazis forced him to flee Vienna, the city where he worked as a doctor and wrote pioneering books such as The Interpretation of Dreams and The Psychopathology of Everyday Life.The Freud Museum is the house in north London where Freud spent the last part of his life, surrounded by his art collection and books, after the Nazis forced him to flee Vienna, the city where he worked as a doctor and wrote pioneering books such as The Interpretation of Dreams and The Psychopathology of Everyday Life.
While his couch is being conserved, the cultural world in which Freud excavated the layers of the unconscious mind is laid bare this autumn at London's National Gallery. Its exhibition, Facing the Modern: the Portrait in Vienna 1900 features Vienna's greatest artists – Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele – who analysed sexuality and dreams at the exact moment when Freud was uncovering the psyche.While his couch is being conserved, the cultural world in which Freud excavated the layers of the unconscious mind is laid bare this autumn at London's National Gallery. Its exhibition, Facing the Modern: the Portrait in Vienna 1900 features Vienna's greatest artists – Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele – who analysed sexuality and dreams at the exact moment when Freud was uncovering the psyche.
Another of Freud's books is Civilisation and Its Discontents. The civilisation of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the start of the 20th century had a lot of discontents: nationalist politicians, including antisemites, were shaking the pluralist culture of this multinational empire. There was a sense of decay in the last years of Habsburg rule. Everywhere, the irrational bloomed.Another of Freud's books is Civilisation and Its Discontents. The civilisation of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the start of the 20th century had a lot of discontents: nationalist politicians, including antisemites, were shaking the pluralist culture of this multinational empire. There was a sense of decay in the last years of Habsburg rule. Everywhere, the irrational bloomed.
It's a mystery how Klimt's paintings of powerful dream women such as Judith and Schiele's provocative erotic portraits relate to Freud's writings. He certainly did not influence them. Nor did they influence him. Yet he was an art lover – his collection at the Freud Museum bears witness to that – and even dreamed about paintings. Sex was in the air along with the aroma of coffee and the sound of Mahler rehearsing the orchestra at the opera house. Freud's theories soon became famous and artists read his books: the surrealist movement saw him as a liberator. Dali portrayed him. Later, Louise Bourgeois made art that is immersed in psychoanalysis. Freud opened a new world to art, and art has never since got out of his labyrinth.It's a mystery how Klimt's paintings of powerful dream women such as Judith and Schiele's provocative erotic portraits relate to Freud's writings. He certainly did not influence them. Nor did they influence him. Yet he was an art lover – his collection at the Freud Museum bears witness to that – and even dreamed about paintings. Sex was in the air along with the aroma of coffee and the sound of Mahler rehearsing the orchestra at the opera house. Freud's theories soon became famous and artists read his books: the surrealist movement saw him as a liberator. Dali portrayed him. Later, Louise Bourgeois made art that is immersed in psychoanalysis. Freud opened a new world to art, and art has never since got out of his labyrinth.
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