GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The plump, furry body of Caliban sits on a sea shore. His wide curious glance upward and unstable perch suggest a distracted pause in motion. Caliban is a principle antagonist in Shakespeare's The Tempest. He is a beastly, lonesome native of a deserted island suddenly occupied by a pompous, exiled duke. Caliban shows himself to be lustful, deceitful, weak, and disturbed.
Caliban's tortured soul embodies the sinister spectacle that Alfred Kubin, the master of Symbolist macabre, found irresistible. Kubin's own life was scarred by death and mental breakdown. He spent the last fifty years of his life, productive but private, in a small Austrian castle with his wife. Oscar Wilde uses Caliban to illustrate the complex 19th-century fascination with reflection, psychological and representational:
"The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass."
-Oscar Wilde, A Picture of Dorian Gray
Excerpt from
Brittany Luberda, DMA label copy, 2010.
NOTES
Created 1918
Checked Piction
Parent: Visions of Shakespeare (Shakespeare Visionen) [5329766]
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Kubin, Alfred (Austrian, 1877-1959)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: OberÓ§sterreich (state/Austria): TGN: 7003026
Specifically Zwickledt
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
1998.132.17 Oskar Kokoschka, The Dream
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- The Public Domain Review~Check out these works of art depicting characters from Shakespearean plays.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York~Read an essay about Shakespeare and Art from the early 18th century through the early 20th century.
- Folger Shakespeare Library~Learn more about Shakespeare's The Tempest.
- Open Source Shakespeare~Read Caliban's lines from The Tempest.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1998.132.22
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General Description
The plump, furry body of Caliban sits on a sea shore. His wide curious glance upward and unstable perch suggest a distracted pause in motion. Caliban is a principle antagonist in Shakespeare's The Tempest. He is a beastly, lonesome native of a deserted island suddenly occupied by a pompous, exiled duke. Caliban shows himself to be lustful, deceitful, weak, and disturbed.
Caliban's tortured soul embodies the sinister spectacle that Alfred Kubin, the master of Symbolist macabre, found irresistible. Kubin's own life was scarred by death and mental breakdown. He spent the last fifty years of his life, productive but private, in a small Austrian castle with his wife. Oscar Wilde uses Caliban to illustrate the complex 19th-century fascination with reflection, psychological and representational:
"The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass."
-Oscar Wilde, A Picture of Dorian Gray
Excerpt from
Brittany Luberda, DMA label copy, 2010.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- The Public Domain Review~Check out these works of art depicting characters from Shakespearean plays.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York~Read an essay about Shakespeare and Art from the early 18th century through the early 20th century.
- Folger Shakespeare Library~Learn more about Shakespeare's The Tempest.
- Open Source Shakespeare~Read Caliban's lines from The Tempest.
Notes
Created 1918
Checked Piction
Parent: Visions of Shakespeare (Shakespeare Visionen) [5329766]
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Kubin, Alfred (Austrian, 1877-1959)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: OberÓ§sterreich (state/Austria): TGN: 7003026
Specifically Zwickledt
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
1998.132.17 Oskar Kokoschka, The Dream
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1998.132.22
source file
object_notes_2_b-0409.xml.nores