Name/Title
Circe Turns a Companion into a SwineEntry/Object ID
2022.1.2Description
Circe Turns a Companion into a Swine: Serigraph on Arches 88, (from the “Odysseus Suite”).
This large, vibrant paper collage was part of a larger series created by Bearden titled The Black Odyssey. Taking inspiration from the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Bearden depicted scenes from the classic in a new way. He imagined the stories of the Odyssey taking place in West Africa, where Bearden has ancestry, and the colors, animals, fashions, and subjects reflected that. The story of Circe depicts her as a powerful sorceress who has secluded herself on an island. When Odysseus and his men arrive on her island, she turns his men into swine with a potion. Odysseus must then beg for her to turn his men back and he outsmarts her using magic of his own. Circe commends Odysseus for his ability to outsmart her and in return, she helps him return to Ithaca. Circe’s story in The Odyssey is quite short yet still captures her extreme abilities, wit, and power earning her an icon status.Artwork Details
Medium
Serigraph, Paper, Arches PaperMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Romare BeardenRole
ArtistDate made
1979Time Period
20th CenturyDimensions
Height
22 inWidth
30 inDimension Description
FramedHeight
30-1/2 inWidth
35 inInterpretative Labels
Label Type
Credit LineLabel
Gift of Carmen R. CroceLabel Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
Bearden is especially known for his complex, layered collages that he enlarged using a photostatic process. He often depicted themes derived from his personal memories, literature, history, the Bible, and music. Circe Turns a Companion into a Swine and Odysseus Leaves Nausicaa form part of a series of 20 colorful serigraph (a type of silkscreen) prints based on the Odyssey—the Homeric poem recounting the Greek hero Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War. Bearden reimagined the ancient Greek narrative as a Black epic set in Africa. He thus correlated Odysseus’s long and difficult trek to African Americans’ experiences, while also highlighting the Odyssey’s universal relevance. The prints reproduce an eponymous series of collages Bearden made in 1977 using color-aid paper.
Bearden es especialmente conocido por sus collages complejos y en capas que luego agrandaba utilizando un proceso fotostático. La temática de sus obras proviene casi siempre de sus recuerdos pero también se vale de la literatura, la historia, la Biblia y la música. Circe convierte en cerdo a su acompañante y Odiseo abandona a Nausícaa, forman parte de una serie de veinte coloridas serigrafias (un tipo de impresión) basadas en la Odisea - el poema homérico que relata el regreso a casa del héroe griego Odiseo después de la Guerra de Troya. Bearden convierte el antiguo mito griego en una epopeya ubicada en África. De esta manera relaciona la larga y difícil travesía de Odiseo con las experiencias de los afroamericanos; a la vez que resalta la relevancia universal del clásico griego. Estos grabados reproducen una serie epónima de collages que Bearden realizó en 1977 usando papel Color-aid.