Orpheus and Eurydice in the 21st Century: R.B. Kitaj, Rilke and Arcade Fire (Part 1)
by Gregg Chadwick Last night the L.A. Louver Gallery held a rousing discussion: R.B. Kitaj's Life & Passion , with Tracy Bartley (director of the R.B. Kitaj studio), Derek Boshier (artist), David N. Myers (professor and chair of the UCLA History Department), and Paul Holdengräber (curator, instigator and Director/Founder of LIVE from the New York Public Library). Titian Orpheus and Eurydice 15 9/16" x 20 7/8" oil on wood ca . 1508–12 Accademia Carrara, Bergamo photo courtesy Metropolitan Museum, New York As I listened to the conversation, I scanned the room full of many of Kitaj's last paintings and was struck by the realization that in these artworks Kitaj was attempting to bring his deceased wife Sandra back from death - Kitaj as the poet/artist incarnation of the mythic Orpheus would bring Sandra (his Eurydice, taken too soon) back from the underworld. These vibrant paintings were not just a testament to their passion but inste...
