Can we paint our dreams?

Laura Cumming | The Observer | 17th August 2025

Bethlam Hospital near London has treated mentally ill patients for centuries. Some of its patients have made art, trying to explain to their doctors what is going on. They describe “raw, unmediated experience” far removed from the sleek catchy images that the surrealists said described the unconscious state. So, are these artworks or just “self diagnosis”? And how do they relate to dreams, such a renowned source of artistic inspiration? How different is the half-awake state from the processes of mental illness?