Shop art print and framed art Le rêve by Edouard Detaille

The Dream is a painting by Édouard Detaille, painted in 1888. It is currently in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Le Rêve is a military painting, a genre in which Édouard Detaille was a specialist. It depicts French soldiers asleep in their bivouac, with fires visible as far as the eye can see. More precisely, they are young conscripts of the Third Republic during summer manoeuvres, probably in Champagne. They dream of the glory of their predecessors and of taking their revenge for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In a patriotic allegory, the soldiers of An II and Austerlitz (First Republic and First Empire), the Trocadéro and the Algiers expedition (Restoration), the battalions of Magenta and Solferino (Second Empire), and the survivors of Gravelotte and Reichshoffen (1870 War) are deliberately not distinctly depicted in the sky. This type of painting corresponded well to the Boulangiste mood of the time, showing the nostalgia of a victorious and united France, and one of the foundations of the Napoleonic legend, as they all portrayed the increasingly distant memory of a mythical France. For Detaille, it was a "direct political statement" showing his support for General Georges Boulanger and a celebration of the army. The public success of the work, which was significant and long-lasting, showed that almost all political currents, well beyond Boulangerism, which was soon forgotten, saw it as a call for revenge after the defeat of 1870. Purchased by the French state in 1888, it [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the academism style.

 

« Le rêve » is kept at Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of Le rêve by Edouard Detaille on Wikipedia.