GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In the vain hope to forget,
The ingrate for whom her heart sobs.
This nymph remains in her cave,
Made a tender lovely letter.
In Greek mythology, Calypso was a sea nymph believed to be the daughter of Atlas. In Homer’s Odyssey, she kept Odysseus captive on her island for seven years to make him her immortal husband. He successfully pleaded for his release to return to his beloved wife, Penelope. Here, Daumier depicts a dejected Calypso watching Odysseus’s ship as it sails away in the distance. His caricature of Calypso wearing a tattered, oversized dress and rolled-down socks pokes fun at her role as Odysseus’s seductress.
Published in Le Charivari, it is one of fifty lithographs from the Ancient Stories series that appeared in the newspaper between December 1841 and January 1843. The series’ amusing interpretations of ancient legends was applauded for its comic qualities, bringing Greek and Roman mythology into the homes of 19th-century Parisians.
Excerpt from
Martha MacLeod, DMA label copy, 2016.
NOTES
Created 1842
Checked Piction
plate 40 state 2
Brain label copy:
The Despair of Calypso is the fortieth of 50 images in the series Ancient History (Histoire Ancienne) published in the left-wing Parisian journal Charivari in 1842. Daumier casts an irreverent eye on the revered mythological stories from Homer's Odyssey and Fenelon's Adventures of Telemachus, an 18th-century amplification of Homer's epic. Here the great satirist depicts Calypso in an unflattering pose: the goddess sulks alone on her island, disheveled in her socks, finger in her nose. As in most of his lithographs, Daumier relies on text to clarify and animate the scene:
In the vain hope to forget
The ungrateful one for whom her heart sobbed,
This nymph has in her cave
Made tender a very happy paper.
Daumier's verse recalls the origins of Calypo's despair. Enamored of Telemachus, Calypso loses him first to Eucharis, one of her nymphs, and then to the sea after his dramatic escape. Fond of puns and doubles-entendres, Daumier's text is typically vague. The "paper" may refer to the tales of his adventures Telemachus related to her or the book from which these tales come. Daumier may also be making a sly reference to Charivari, the paper in which his depictions of ancient history appear.
Daumier's verse recalls the origins of Calypso's despair.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Daumier, Honoré (French, 1808-1879)
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Hand-colored lithograph on paper
Historical periods
Individuals
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VIDEO ASSETS
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WEB RESOURCES
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC~Read a biography of Daumier from the NGA.
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Apply to objects where number equals 1985.176
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General Description
In the vain hope to forget,
The ingrate for whom her heart sobs.
This nymph remains in her cave,
Made a tender lovely letter.
In Greek mythology, Calypso was a sea nymph believed to be the daughter of Atlas. In Homer’s Odyssey, she kept Odysseus captive on her island for seven years to make him her immortal husband. He successfully pleaded for his release to return to his beloved wife, Penelope. Here, Daumier depicts a dejected Calypso watching Odysseus’s ship as it sails away in the distance. His caricature of Calypso wearing a tattered, oversized dress and rolled-down socks pokes fun at her role as Odysseus’s seductress.
Published in Le Charivari, it is one of fifty lithographs from the Ancient Stories series that appeared in the newspaper between December 1841 and January 1843. The series’ amusing interpretations of ancient legends was applauded for its comic qualities, bringing Greek and Roman mythology into the homes of 19th-century Parisians.
Excerpt from
Martha MacLeod, DMA label copy, 2016.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Created 1842
Checked Piction
plate 40 state 2
Brain label copy:
The Despair of Calypso is the fortieth of 50 images in the series Ancient History (Histoire Ancienne) published in the left-wing Parisian journal Charivari in 1842. Daumier casts an irreverent eye on the revered mythological stories from Homer's Odyssey and Fenelon's Adventures of Telemachus, an 18th-century amplification of Homer's epic. Here the great satirist depicts Calypso in an unflattering pose: the goddess sulks alone on her island, disheveled in her socks, finger in her nose. As in most of his lithographs, Daumier relies on text to clarify and animate the scene:
In the vain hope to forget
The ungrateful one for whom her heart sobbed,
This nymph has in her cave
Made tender a very happy paper.
Daumier's verse recalls the origins of Calypo's despair. Enamored of Telemachus, Calypso loses him first to Eucharis, one of her nymphs, and then to the sea after his dramatic escape. Fond of puns and doubles-entendres, Daumier's text is typically vague. The "paper" may refer to the tales of his adventures Telemachus related to her or the book from which these tales come. Daumier may also be making a sly reference to Charivari, the paper in which his depictions of ancient history appear.
Daumier's verse recalls the origins of Calypso's despair.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Daumier, Honoré (French, 1808-1879)
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Hand-colored lithograph on paper
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1985.176
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