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Image

A bold watercolor of two light-skinned Muses descending from a dramatic moon-filled sky, one dressed in orange robes and holding a lyre floats above the unclothed other holding a staff.
  • A bold watercolor of two light-skinned Muses descending from a dramatic moon-filled sky, one dressed in orange robes and holding a lyre floats above the unclothed other holding a staff.

Gustave Moreau

Hésiode (Hesiod)

Description

Maker

Gustave Moreau (French, 1826-1898)

Title

Hésiode (Hesiod)

Year

early 1880s

Medium

  • Watercolor and opaque watercolor with touches of graphite on wove paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Watercolor and opaque watercolor with touches of graphite on wove paper

Materials

gouache, watercolor, graphite

Supports

  • wove paper

Dimensions

34.9 x 20 cm (13 3/4 x 7 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed in red gouache, LL: "Gustave Moreau"; inscribed LR: "Hésiode"

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

28.005

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

Edgar Degas: Six Friends At Dieppe

  • Books

Selection V: French Watercolors and Drawings, ca. 1800-1910

French watercolors and drawings from the Museum's collection, ca. 1800-1910

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer
Four Hundred Years of Drawing from the RISD Museum
Mar 12, 2022 – Sep 04, 2022

Label copy

Boasting the saturated intensity of a manuscript illumination or a stained-glass window, this drawing vibrates with chromatic energy. To bring forth this dreamlike scene of the Greek poet Hesiod receiving inspiration from a Muse, Gustave Moreau layered graphite, ink, transparent watercolor, and thickly applied opaque watercolor, creating a shimmering, encrusted surface. With its complex use of color and dense application of media, this work epitomizes Moreau’s approach to watercolor as a rich fusion of drawing and painting.

Edgar Degas
Six Friends at Dieppe
Sep 16, 2005 – Jan 15, 2006
Prints and Drawings with a Classical Reference
Dec 15, 1965 – Jan 09, 1966

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Gustave Moreau (French, 1826-1898)
Hésiode (Hesiod), early 1880s
Watercolor and opaque watercolor with touches of graphite on wove paper
34.9 x 20 cm (13 3/4 x 7 7/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 28.005

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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