Cubism, Freud, and the image of wit

This essay contributes to the psychoanalytic understanding of creativity by applying Freud's theories of jokes and dreams to the interpretation of Cubist-paintings and collages of 1907-14. The selection of Cubism is justified on the basis of various questions which Freud and the Cubists asked in common, questions concerning reality, both external and psychic; the processes of representation and interpretation; the correspondences between the arts and other mental products, such as language and dreams; and the nature of the child and of the so-called primitive mind. Moreover, certain innovative features of Cubism--the incorporation of words, texts, and jokes into painting, and the use of collage--lend themselves to, perhaps even require, exegesis in Freudian terms.