Parsifal
c. 1904
20th Century
58 3/4 x 71 1/2 in. (149.2 x 181.6 cm)
Pinckney Marcius-Simons,
American,
(1867–1909)
Object Type:
PAINTINGS
Creation Place:
North America
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Purchased with funds provided by Richard M. Throne & James Hanes
Accession Number:
95-P-422
Gallery Label:
Marcius-Simons was a Symbolist painter who was greatly influenced by the flowing melody of music. In the publication The Parsifal Tone Pictures, which accompanied this painting’s exhibition in New York in 1904, the artist wrote “Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si – are the seven factors of music. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet are the factors in painting.” He hoped to translate the sounds of the musical composition into colors on the canvas.
Symbolists usually chose dramatic subjects to paint. Marcius-Simons was particularly inspired by the operas of Wagner, for which he designed sets in Bayreuth, Germany. This painting presents a compilation of images and characters inspired by Act II of Wagner’s opera Parsifal, with its central theme of sacred and profane love.
Emily Levy, '12
Curatorial Intern
Current Location:
Art Museum : 20 C Gallery
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