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All,
I'm trying to verify the title and artist of a particular
image that a patron brought to our reference desk.
It's not obscure because three of us in Reference have seen
the image- we thought in our collections- but no cigar.
.
We think it might be an early drawing or litho
(perhaps a published illustration) by either Felicien
Rops or Alfred Kubin. The patron thinks
the title is "Vanitas", which makes sense.
Here's the description:
A woman, of the late 19th or turn of the century is
looking at herself in the mirror of her vantity.
There are bottles/cosmetics spread flush to the mirror in
kind-of single file on the top of the vanity.
The woman's hands and forearms are somewhat outstretched on the table.
and her hair is rather loosely piled and gathered on top of her head
in a large bun.
The optical illusion is apparent after a brief look and changes
the seemingly harmless "woman at her toilet" into
a femme fatale/vanitas/ fin-de siecle/ theme:
The woman and vanity merge to become a deathly skull.
The mirror of the vanity is the large cranium, the woman's head
and her head's reflection become the hollowed eyes and
the cosmetics on the vanity become the teeth.
If you know what this is, or can site a source, that would
be great!
Thanks,
Mo
Mo Dawley
Art Librarian
University Libraries
Carnegie Mellon Univerity
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
[log in to unmask]
(412) 268-6625
fax: (412) 268-6944
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