Stone From Delphi, Boston

by Wendy Artin

This is the beautiful and haunting face of Asclepius, who represents healing and hope.

This is the beautiful and haunting face of Asclepius, who represents healing and hope.

Wall featuring a large painting of Actaeon, attacked by his own hounds after being transformed into a stag by the goddess Diana when she caught him admiring her during her bath.

Wall featuring a large painting of Actaeon, attacked by his own hounds after being transformed into a stag by the goddess Diana when she caught him admiring her during her bath.

The Maenads or Bacchantes were a favorite subject for the sculptors of Antiquity, with swirling robes that suggest the movement of their wild drunken dances.

The Maenads or Bacchantes were a favorite subject for the sculptors of Antiquity, with swirling robes that suggest the movement of their wild drunken dances.

Jean and Mark Patiky at opening of Stone From Delphi

Jean and Mark Patiky at opening of Stone From Delphi.  When Wendy Artin was 5 years old, she was fortunate to have Jean as a creative, intuitive and inspirational art teacher.

Paul S. Diette and Wendy Artin in front of watercolor of Antinoüs during the opening of Stone From Delphi

Paul S. Diette and Wendy Artin in front of watercolor of Antinoüs during the opening of Stone From Delphi.

Wendy Artin with bicycle painter Taliah Lempert, whose paintings can be seen at bicycle paintings.com

Bicycle painter Taliah Lempert and Wendy Artin.

This bas-relief depicts a procession with Two Satyrs and a Maenad who is playing a drum.

This bas-relief depicts a procession with Two Satyrs and a Maenad playing a drum.

gallery view of Roman landscapes and Aphrodite

Gallery view of Roman landscapes and Aphrodite.

gallery view with Mosaic watercolors

Gallery wall with watercolors of ancient mosaics.

With the Maenad-Bacchante

With one of the Maenad-Bacchantes.

gallery view with Temple, Hermes, Antinoüs

Gallery view with Temple, Hermes, Antinoüs.

Russ Gerard of Gurari Collections and Wendy Artin

Russ Gerard of Gurari Collections and Wendy Artin.

Thank you to Carolyn Artin for the great photos!

Thank you to Carolyn Artin for the great photos!

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STONE FROM DELPHI
at Gurari Collections in the South End of Boston
460 Harrison Avenue
November 1 – November 30, 2013

My latest project is the work inspired by the collection of Seamus Heaney‘s marvelous poems published in the exquisitely crafted limited edition Arion Press book, Stone From Delphi. While researching the images to use as sources for the paintings in the book, I discovered a plethora of statues that I had yet to paint. After the book was released in San Francisco in November of 2012, I continued to paint the mythological subjects from the classically themed poems of Seamus Heaney: Maenads, Actaeons, Aphrodites and Hermes.

Brilliant Roman sunshine, casting puddles of watery shadows; the smooth, chipped and stained marble of Antiquity; years of painting statues as models and models as statues: these are the ingredients from which the Stone From Delphi watercolor paintings were made. Rather than try to illustrate the flow of images, sounds and senses that burst from Seamus Heaney‘s poems, I sought to accompany them, to make watercolor paintings of the mythological characters and places that are fresh, powerful and essential. These small fine paintings are of light washing over the marble surface of Antique statues, as the dilute watercolor tints the surface of the white paper in the shape of the shadows. The mythological characters are delicate and elegant, even as the beautiful dancer brandishes the sword to plunge into Orpheus. This project has allowed me to revisit many of my favorite models, statues of Antiquity, and to discover many more.


To see more work by Wendy Artin, please visit the website wendyartin.com