Antique Collotype Print Psyche William Sergeant Kendall Fairy Butterfly 18"

Description

Antique collotype print of a butterfly winged girl, after the painting “Psyche” by William Sergeant Kendall. “PSYKHE (Psyche) was the goddess of the soul and the wife of Eros (Roman Cupid) god of love.

She was once a mortal princess whose extraordinary beauty earned the ire of Aphrodite (Roman Venus) when men began turning their worship away from the goddess towards the girl. Aphrodite commanded Eros make Psykhe fall in love with the most hideous of men but the god instead fell in love and carried her off to his hidden palace. Eros hid his true identity and told Psykhe she must never gaze upon his face. Her jealous sisters, however, tricked her into disobeying and the angry god forsook her. Psykhe searched the world for her lost love and eventually came into the service of Aphrodite. The goddess commanded her perform a series of seemingly impossible tasks which culminated in a journey to the Underworld. Psykhe was afterwards reunited with Eros and the couple were married in a ceremony attended by all the gods.

Psykhe was depicted in ancient mosaic art as a butterfly-winged woman in the company of her husband Eros. Sometimes a pair of Pyskhai (Psychae) were depicted--the second perhaps representing their daughter Hedone (Pleasure).” “William Sergeant Kendall (born 1869 in Spuyten Duyvil, New York, died 1938 in Hot Springs, Virginia), was an American painter, most famous for his evocative scenes of domestic life; his wife and three young daughters were frequent subjects in his early work. Kendall began his training at the Brooklyn Art Guild and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts as a student of Thomas Eakins. He returned to New York City in 1886 to study at the Art Students League. He moved to Europe in 1888 for further study, including a period at the École des Beaux-Arts, and continued to paint, earning recognition at the Paris Salon in 1891. Like many American artists in France, Kendall spent his summers in Brittany and frequently painted the local peasantry. In 1892 he returned to New York and established his studio. Kendall and his family eventually moved to Newport, Rhode Island, and then to New Haven, Connecticut, where he was a professor and head of the School of Fine Arts at Yale from 1913 to 1922.[3]

In 1901 Kendall was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1905. He left Yale in 1922 and relocated to rural Bath County, Virginia, where he continued to paint until his death. Kendall was the recipient of numerous prizes and awards for his work; he was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1920 to 1921. His papers from 1900 to 1936 are housed at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.[4]

Although mainly a painter, Kendall also modeled and carved sculptures throughout his career. His work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[5] the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,[6] and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Kendall's first wife was painter Margaret Weston Stickney, with whom he had three daughters. They divorced in 1921. Kendall had a romantic relationship with Yale student Christine Herter, who he married in 1922, following his resignation from the university.[8] They settled in Hot Springs, Virginia, and built a country house named Garth Newel. It is home to the Garth Newel Music Center,[9] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.”

Condition

Good Overall - Gaps at connections of frame; water stains to print; see pictures

Dimensions

13.75” x 0.875” x 17.75” / Sans Frame - 11.625” x 15.625” (Width x Depth x Height)