The Death of the Niobids II

 

Salvatore Grippi

  1921 - 2017 (biography)

1952  

lift-ground etching and engraving 

9 15/16 x 11 3/4" platemark 

pencil, lower right 

proofs only, not editioned 

pencil titled and dated 

 

soft ivory wove 

published 

artist 

21837 

$950.00 

This image was done in 1952 while the artist was working at Atelier 17 in New York with S.W. Hayter. Grippi, like many of the Atelier 17 surrealists, explored Greek and Roman mythology in an attempt to make some historic sense of the chaos of the post WWII world. Grippi used lift-ground etching and engraving to create this image, composed of lines and tones of gray and black. Human figures are confronted by the Greek deities Artemis or Apollo in a chaotic scene of violence and death. The figures are created by use of short, engraved lines and do not try to define one from another, adding to the sense of confusion and drama. In Greek mythology, the Niobids were the 12 children of Amphion of Thebes and Niobe, slain by twins Apollo and Artemis because Niobe, born of the royal house of Phrygia, had boastfully compared the greater number of her own offspring with those of Leto, Apollo's and Artemis' mother and was punished for her pride. The myth relates that Apollo killed Niobe's 6 sons and his sister Artemis killed her 6 daughters.