Under the Spell of Orpheus: The Persistence of a Myth in Twentieth-Century Art.

Bernstock, Judith E.:

ISBN 10: 0809316595 / ISBN 13: 9780809316595

Published by Carbondale, Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991

About this Item

XXV, 235 p.: Ill. Schutzumschlag leicht berieben und Einband etwas angeschmutzt, sonst ein sehr gutes und sauberes Exemplar ohne Anstreichungen / Dust jacket slightly rubbed and cover a bit stained, otherwise a very good and clean copy without markings. - This comprehensive view of the Orpheus myth in modern art focuses on an extremely rich artistic symbol, cutting through all the clichés to explore truly significant problems of meaning. The author takes a new approach to the iconography of major modern artists by incorporating psychological and literary analysis, as well as biography. Her study demonstrates the power and vitality of ancient myth to provide inspiration today and to reveal basic truths about the human condition and the artists conception of those truths. The psychological bonds proposed here between the ancient singer/poet Orpheus and the twentieth-century artist help to corroborate Freuds and Jungs use of myth as a key to the continuity in the unconscious from primitive to modern humanity. The three parts of this book explore the ways in which artists have identified with different aspects of the often paradoxical Orpheus myth. The first deals with artists such as Paul Klee, Carl Milles, and Barbara Hepworth, who identify with Orpheuss powers of metamorphosis, equated with the artists ability to transform a harsh and corrupt reality through powers of imagination into an ideal world of beauty, feeling, and truth. The second part shows a more critical view of Orpheus as an overly emotional, unrealistic, and helpless dreamer, reflecting the modern artists acknowledgment of feelings of inadequacy and lack of control over self and environment. Max Beckmann, Oskar Kokoschka, and Isamu Noguchi are discussed. The final part considers the significance of death and suffering in the Orpheus myth and its appeal to twentieth-century artists obsessed with death, seeking reassurance of the continuity of existence and of liberation from time and guilt. Artists examined are Pablo Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz, Ethel Schwabacher, and Cy Twombly. The text, accompanied by 61 illustrations and a select bibliography, will be of great interest to serious students of modern art, the psychology of art, or current cultural inquiry. / Contents Plates Foreword Peter Selz Preface Introduction Part One. The Fulfillment of an Ego Ideal 1. Orpheus the Pre-War Hero 2. Rainer Maria Rilke and the Artist as Transformer 3. The Lyre 4. The Orpheus of the Concert Hall Part Two. The Critical Self-Image 5. The Childish and Irrational Dreamer 6. Powerlessness and Dependence 7. The Mask of the Imagination Part Three. Death and Suffering 8. Constancy and Continuity 9. Liberation from Guilt 10. The Death of Orpheus Conclusion Notes Select Bibliography Index. ISBN 9780809316595 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 788.

Seller Inventory # 1215548

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Under the Spell of Orpheus: The Persistence of a Myth in Twentieth-Century Art.
• Publisher: Carbondale, Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0809316595
• ISBN 13: 9780809316595
• Binding: Hardcover with dust jacket.
• Condition: Gut
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Weight: 788 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Ikonographie

About this title

Synopsis

This comprehensive view of the Orpheus myth in modern art focuses on an extremely rich artistic symbol and cuts through all the clichés to explore truly significant problems of meaning. The author takes a new approach to the iconography of major modern artists by incorporating psychological and literary analysis, as well as biography.

The three parts of the book explore the ways in which artists have identified with different aspects of the often paradoxical Orpheus myth. The first deals with artists such as Paul Klee, Carl Milles, and Barbara Hepworth. In the second, Max Beckmann, Oskar Kokoschka, and Isamu Noguchi are discussed. Artists examined in the final part include Pablo Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz, Ethel Schwabacher, and Cy Twombly. The author documents her argument with more than sixty illustrations.

About the Author

Judith E. Bernstock is Assistant Professor of the History of Art at Cornell University.