Orme Lewis Gallery
November 14, 2008 - February 10, 2009
From the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. comes one of the truly great achievements in American art: Elihu Vedder's Drawings for the Rubáiyátem>. The complex drawings were made to accompany Edward FitzGerald's 1884 English translation of Omar Kayyám's classic 12th century Persian poem, the Rubáiyát. The publication made Vedder (1836-1923) famous and set the standard for artist-designed books. The ancient poem deals with philosophical issues of life, death, and the hereafter. Vedder's "accompaniments," as he preferred to call his illustrations, are not pictorial translations of the poem, but rather were inspired by the original text.
Made with ink, chalk, pencil and watercolor, these works are highly imaginative, dream-like images made in the swirling, curvilinear style of Art Nouveau.
The exhibition of 54 drawings features Vedder's entire set of Rubáiyát designs, with the exception of a small publisher's mark. A Cup of Death, 1885-1911, Vedder's mystical oil painting inspired by one of his drawings, is also included.
Left: Vain Questioning (Illustration for Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), Elihu Vedder, 1883-84. Chalk, pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1978. Center: Cover Illustration for Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Elihu Vedder, 1883-84. Chalk, pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1978. Right: The Soul's Answer (Illustration for Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), Elihu Vedder, 1883-84. Chalk, pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1978.
Elihu Vedder's Drawings for the Rubáiyát is organized and circulated by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.