Alfred Kubin

Am um Aug is a powerful image of Kubin’s extraordinary vision and nightmarish imagination. It depicts a truncated female body, her head resembling a skull, nailed to the background by daggers piercing her body. Strongly reminiscent of the image of crucified Christ, this work borrows both its title and its imagery from the Judeo-Christian tradition, combining it with Kubin’s own world of fantasy and mysticism. Never working from nature, Kubin took his inspiration from his own dreams and inner vision, that had their origin in the artist’s traumatic childhood. In his preoccupation with dreams, Kubin was in some respects a precursor of the Surrealists, and his world of demons and nightmarish visions, reflect his exploration of the subconscious..