Europa and the Bull I
Reuben Nakian, Europa and the Bull I, 1980, lithograph on paper, Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund, © unknown, research required, 81.11
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- Title
Europa and the Bull I
- Artist
- Date
1980
- Medium
lithograph on paper
- Edition
artist's proof; edition of 75
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
image: 22 1/2 in x 30 1/8 in; sheet: 22 1/2 in x 30 1/8 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
number: , verso, lower right
blindstamp: , lower right
edition; signature: A.P. // [illeg.], edition in graphite; signature printed, upper left
- Collection Area
Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
- Object Type
planographic print
- Culture
American
- Credit Line
Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund
- Accession Number
81.11
- Copyright
© unknown, research required
- Terms
Reuben Nakian, although better known for his sculpture, created a handful of prints devoted to the story of princess Europa, who the god Zeus, disguised as a bull, abducted and ravaged. Nakian was drawn to the sensual subject and depicted Europa and the bull with a light-hearted joy, rather than the terror described by the poet Ovid in Metamorphoses:
!T!And gradually she lost her fear, and he !T!Offered his breast for her virgin caresses, !T!His horns for her to wind with chains of flowers !T!Until the princess dared to mount his back !T!Her pet bull's back, unwitting whom she rode.
!T!Then—slowly, slowly down the broad, dry beach— !T!First in the shallow waves the great god set !T!His spurious hooves, then sauntered further out !T!'til in the open sea he bore his prize !T!Fear filled her heart as, gazing back, she saw !T!The fast receding sands. Her right hand grasped !T!A horn, the other lent upon his back !T!Her fluttering tunic floated in the breeze.
- Exhibitions
2012 Mythologia: Gods, Heroes, and Monsters Portland Art Museum