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

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. Under the Spell of Orpheus CONTENTS PLATES FOREWORD PREFACE INTRODUCTION Orpheus and Ancient Orphism Orpheus in Twentieth-Century Art PART ONE THE FULFILLMENT OF AN EGO IDEAL 1 Orpheus the Pre-War Hero Franz Marc Guillaume Apollinaire and Three Artists: Raoul Dufy, Giorgio De Chirico, and Robert Delaunay Raoul Dufy and Le Bestiaire ou cortège d'Orphée Giorgio de Chirico Robert Delaunay and Orphism 2 Rainer Maria Rilke and the Artist as Transformer Paul Klee William Tucker 3 The Lyre Ossip Zadkine 4 The Orpheus of the Concert Hall Carl Milles Richard Lippold PART TWO THE CRITICAL SELF-IMAGE 5 The Childish and Irrational Dreamer Johanes Guthmann and Max Beckmann 6 Powerlessness and Dependence Oskar Kokoschka 7 The Mask of the Imagination George Balanchine and Isamu Noguchi PART THREE DEATH AND SUFFERING 8 Constancy and Continuity Guillaume Apollinaire and Raoul Dufy Rainer Maria Rilke and the Unity of Being Paul Klee Cy Twombly Barnett New Bert Samples Robert Kushner 9 Liberation from Guilt Oskar Kokoschka Jacques Lipchitz Rainer Maria Rilke Mark Di Suvero Cy Twombly Ethel Schwabacher 10 The Death of Orpheus Jean Cocteau Pablo Picasso André Masson Earl Staley Arnulf Rainer CONCLUSION NOTES SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX Notes 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 Select Bibliography Orpheus and Ancient Orphism Twentieth-Century Art Twentieth-Century Literature Index A B C D E G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z