Tristan & Isolde

Tristan & Isolde

The composition is most likely a reference to a scene from the opera, Tristan und Isolde, by Richard Wagner (1813-1883). In the immediate foreground on the right is a person lying on the ground in front of a rock where another figure is reclined on top of the rock; these two figures are looking left towards the man standing with a spear in his left hand, wearing a horned helmet, a full black beard and long cloak over his costume. The man is looking at the two figures by the rock and to the right of the man is a figure in a white dress. The man is looking at the two figures by the rock and to the right of the man is a figure in a white dress. To the right of this figure is another figure, presumably a woman, kneeling behind the rock in the foreground, she is looking down on the figure on the rock. A dark angular barrier separates the figures in the foreground from the partially exposed soldiers in the background. Two of the three soldiers are witnessing the scene in the foreground and a third soldier appears to be walking towards the foreground. A narrow band of light and gray can be seen at the very top of the composition.

Dehn Drawer 18

1935

Gift of Mrs. Virginia Dehn

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ink

lithography

11 x 14.5 inches

Print

2013.0.133