Shop art print and framed art Poète mort porté par un centaure by Gustave Moreau

The Dead Poet Carried by a Centaur is a watercolour by Gustave Moreau painted around 1890, shortly after the death of Alexandrine Dureux. It is a reflection on the duality of man and the fate of artists. This watercolour is generally dated around 1890. It was painted shortly after Alexandrine Dureux's death. André Breton, fascinated by Gustave Moreau, owned a copy of this work called Centaur and Nymph. A dead poet, recognisable by his lyre, is carried by a centaur against a setting sun. Here Moreau represents one of his favourite subjects, the poet. But this poet is anonymous, no longer the Orpheus of 1865 or even Sapho. It is in fact a reflection on the duality of human nature, the poet symbolising the spiritual part and the centaur the material part. It is also a pessimistic reflection on the fate of artists"; in the words of Ary Renan: "How many have perished without a funeral at the bottom of lonely ravines. It is true that sometimes a charitable centaur takes in the victim and thinks, in his simple heart, that man is a fool; but oblivion, like still water, buries most of them. Nature is empathetic here, since the sun sets at the same time as the poet [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the symbolism style.

 

« Poète mort porté par un centaure » is kept at Musee Gustave Moreau, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of Poète mort porté par un centaure by Gustave Moreau on Wikipedia.