Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus and Eurydice
Category: Paintings
Artist: Chris Gollon
Subject: Larger Works
Year of Work: 2009
Media: acrylic on canvas
Size: 48" x 36"
Price framed: £5,500. One of the most famous stories in which Orpheus figures is that of his wife Eurydice (also known as Agriope). While fleeing from Aristaeus (son of Apollo), Eurydice ran into a nest of snakes, which bit her fatally on her heel. Distraught, Orpheus played such sad songs and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept. On their advice, Orpheus travelled to the underworld and by his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone (he was the only person ever to do so), who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world. He set off with Eurydice following and in his anxiety as soon as he reached the upper world he turned to look at her, forgetting that both needed to be in the upper world, and she vanished for the second time, but now forever.
Following his recent Fellowship and First Artist in Residence at the Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University, Chris Gollon interacted with some of the world’s leading philosophers and classicists, which lead him to take a modern look at some of the myths of the ancient world. In his painting ‘Orpheus & Eurydice’, Gollon’s image of Orpheus, through the angle of the head, the darkened face and movement of the hand, allows the spectator to sense that he is about to look back, deftly portraying the very second before Orpheus makes his tragic error.
This painting is included in art historian Tamsin Pickeral's book CHRIS GOLLON: Humanity in Art' (published by Hyde & Hughes May 2010). To purchase this work, or for further information, please contact: IAP Fine Art, London. T: 0844 561 1833.
