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Catalog Data

Artist:
Charles Seliger, born New York City 1926-died New York City 2009  Search this
Medium:
white ink on black ink on paper
Dimensions:
sheet: 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Type:
Drawing
Date:
1945
Exhibition Label:
At age nineteen, Charles Seliger drew illustrations for songs from the unfinished satire, An Island in the Moon by William Blake (1757-1827), an English poet, painter, and printmaker.
Written around 1785, the manuscript combines classical Greek satire with a critique of one of the intellectual salons of the London bourgeoisie. Each of Seliger’s drawings depict one or more of the absurdly named characters from Blake’s fictional island, some of whom also represent friends and contemporaries of the author. Suction, the Epicurean, for example, is believed to correspond to Blake’s brother Robert, and Quid, the Cynic refers to Blake himself.
Blake’s song lyrics range from vulgar to menacing to humorous. While Old Corruption is considered an allegory for sin, the song for which Seliger drew O, I Say You Joe, Throw Us the Ball was the first recorded poem to focus on cricket, an English bat-and-ball sport.
Abstract Drawings, 2012
Topic:
Figure  Search this
Literature\Blake\Island in the Moon  Search this
Literature\character\Mayor  Search this
Occupation\political\mayor  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael Rosenfeld
Object number:
1992.53.8
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Graphic Arts
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7c7ecab1d-6974-49f3-8d91-696f2bf0a6a4
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1992.53.8