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Image of Untitled, from the series "Europa"

Untitled, from the series "Europa"
Drawing

ca.1960
14 x 16 3/4 in. (35.56 x 42.55 cm)

Reuben Nakian (College Point, New York, 1897 - 1986, Stamford, Connecticut) Primary

Object Type: Drawing
Medium and Support: Ink on paper
Credit Line: Gift of Paule Anglim
Accession Number: 2011.18.01

SJMA Label Text


Swans, Swine, and Sirens (2013)

A major figure in American modern art, Reuben Nakian was heavily influenced by the visual language of what would become known as Abstract Expressionism. By the late 1940s, Greek mythology and its Roman interpretations had assumed an important role in Nakian’s art. The four drawings on view depict the main characters from two Greek myths in which the god Zeus in the guise of an animal seduces a female mortal: “Europa and the Bull” and “Leda and the Swan.” Nakian’s loose, gestural, vibrant style evokes the narrative essence of the myths and supports the characters’ roles as archetypes for human values and beliefs. As the artist once said, “myths are good because they give you form and a grand story. I don’t want only form; I want philosophy, love. You can’t make a statue of a man and a woman copulating, but you can use a woman and a swan. Then it becomes poetry.”

Exhibition


Swans, Swine, and Sirens, April 18, 2013 - December 1, 2013, Historic Wing, Paul L. Davies Gallery, San José Museum of Art.

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