The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 14, 2026

A centrally oriented ink and pastel drawing on tan paper features organic forms floating within a black square. At the top, a horizontal fish-like creature with yellow scales, a pink underside, and a red eye faces left. Below, a cluster of yellow tubular shapes connects to a long, winding scaly form. Beside it, a rounded, bulbous mass is textured with gray and yellow cross-hatching, suggesting a biological study against a dark void.

In My Dream III

1977

Jogen Chowdhury

(Indian, b. 1939)
India
Ink and pastel on paper
Sheet: 33.5 x 34.8 cm (13 3/16 x 13 11/16 in.); Support: 45.6 x 45.6 cm (17 15/16 x 17 15/16 in.)
Gift of Phyllis Granoff 2023.56
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The artist spent two years studying art in Paris and London from 1965–67.

Description

A fish, a fruit, and other unidentifiable organic forms glow in an otherwise undifferentiated black space. As a child, the artist lived as a refugee during the partition of Bengal. He recalls the deep blackness of rural nights when only one lamp illuminated the family’s living spaces. This work is from a series of surrealist images remembered from his dreams.
  • 1977–1979
    Collection of the Artist, sold to Phyllis Granoff
    1979–2023
    Phyllis Granoff, New Haven, CT, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2023–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=In My Dream III|url=false|author=Jogen Chowdhury|year=1977|access-date=14 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.56