Collection (1987-1994) Antigone from Rosemarie Beck (Rosemarie Beck Foundation)

(1987-1994) Antigone

Around 441 BC, the Greek writer Sophocles wrote a play about Antigone, part of a group of plays that concern the tragic figure of Oedipus. The narrative concerns the highly moral Antigone, daughter/sister of Oedipus, who insists upon her right to bury her dead brother, Polynices, in defiance of the orders of King Creon of Thebes. When she violates the king's command, she is arrested and brought to trial, and then put to death. In anguished rebellion, Creon’s son, Haemon - who was in love with Antigone - kills himself in protest of his father’s judgment. Antigone is vindicated posthumously for having followed divine "right" in defiance of human law. Centuries later, the French writer Jean Anouilh wrote a play about Antigone during WWII, which was censored by the Nazis because of its implicit critique of the Vichy government. The character of Antigone is heroic and unshakably moral, refusing to compromise on what she believes to be right, and she gives her life in defense of her beliefs. Beck's husband, Robert Phelps, died towards the end of 1989, so her work on Antigone coincided with her early widowhood; it was a means of confronting great grief. Beck was also still actively teaching as well as painting. She retired from Queens College, where she had been Professor of Fine Art for many years, and then began teaching at the New York Studio School, in lower Manhattan, very near her studio (which is now the RBF Studio space). Despite the the story of Antigone being essentially tragic, it is also about doing the right thing even when it is dangerous or difficult. At its core is a stubborn woman holding her ground in the face of male criticism; Antigone is in defiance of the status quo and she is punished, but also vindicated for validating Truth. It makes sense that Beck was drawn to this theme. Ultimately, of course, it was the characters and their movements that attracted her; she was always on the lookout for “pretexts” that would work well as paintings.

(1987-1994) Antigone

Artwork in (1987-1994) Antigone

Filters

Death of Antigone, 1993

Death of Haemon, 1994

From Antigone, 1994

From the Antigone, 1990

Antigone Before Creon, 1993

Antigone, 1989

Study Antigone, 1991

From the Antigone, Funeral Cortege, 1994

Antigone and Creon, 1990

Death of Antigone, 1993

Death of Antigone (Antigone Mourned), 1994

Antigone, 1987

Burial of Haemon, 1992

Antigone Led to the Cave, 1992

Antigone, 1987

Study: Antigone, 1991

Study: Death of Antigone, 1991

Antigone Study, 1990

Portfolio #1375 Works on Paper [1987-1992] Antigone, c. 1990

Study: Antigone, 1991

Study: Antigone before Creon, 1993

Study for Antigone, 1988

Portfolio #1827, Small Oils [1984-1993] Antigone, Atalanta, VT, Judgment of Paris

Portfolio #1846 [1976-2001] Oils, gouache, ink sketches

Antigone Before Creon, 1992

Study for Antigone before Creon, 1990

From The Antigone: Burial of Haemon, c. 1991

Study for Antigone Before Creon, 1992

Portfolio box #1461 Connecticut River, Antigone [1989-1992], c. 1990

Antigone, c. 1998

Antigone and Ismene, 1993

Antigone and Ismene, c. 1993

Death of Antigone, c. 1992

Study: Antigone, 1988

Study: Antigone, 1988

Antigone, Burial of Polynices, c. 1995

Antigone burying Polynices, 1992

From Antigone, 1994

From the Antigone, 1991

Study for Antigone, 1993

Portfolio #1380 Drawings and Monoprints [1988-1996]

Portfolio #2005, Antigone, Earthly Paradise, Concert in Tuscany [1988-1998] pencil, ink and oil sketches

From the Antigone, 1990

Antigone, 1990

Antigone and Ismene in the Cave, c. 1992

Antigone, 1979

Antigone Mourns Polynices, 1992