Dream of Icarus

Elizabeth Delson

"Dream of Icarus" depicts the subject standing firmly on the earth, his dream. However the myth describes Icarus and his father Daedalus, who had designed the labyrinth of Crete from which Theseus had somehow escaped. King Minos suspected the father and son, Daedalus and Icarus, of being complicate and imprisoned them. Daedalus created wings from birds’ molted feathers, threads from blankets, the leather straps from their sandals, and beeswax and the pair sailed away.

However, Daedalus had warned Icarus not to fly too close to the Sun or the ocean. The impetuous youth sailed too high, his wings melted and he fell into the sea and drowned, ending his dream of freedom.

According to the website of the artist's estate, AtelierLiz.com, Elizabeth "Liz" Delson was encouraged to pursue art by her third grade teacher, E. May Tennant of North Plainfield, New Jersey. "To most, Miss E. May Tennant was a finicky, aging spinster in crocheted collars and sensible shoes; to me she was a magical inspiration as well as a primary influence on my future."

This print, "Dream of Icarus," was published by the Associated American Artists (AAA) in 1965, three years after it was created. A graduate of the Pratt Institute and Hunter College, she studied printmaking with Gabor Peterdi, Letterio Calapai, and Krishna Reddy, leaders in the field of experiemental intaglio techniques developed at the famed workshop of Stanley William Hayter, Atelier 17. At the time of this print's creation, she was an instructor at Pratt.