Little Phoebus, from Illustrations to the songs from William Blake’s Island in the Moon”

Charles Seliger, Little Phoebus, from Illustrations to the songs from William Blake's "Island in the Moon", 1945, white ink on black ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael Rosenfeld, 1992.53.2
Charles Seliger, Little Phoebus, from Illustrations to the songs from William Blake's "Island in the Moon", 1945, white ink on black ink on paper, sheet: 1411 in. (35.627.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael Rosenfeld, 1992.53.2

Artwork Details

Title
Little Phoebus, from Illustrations to the songs from William Blake’s Island in the Moon”
Date
1945
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 1411 in. (35.627.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Michael Rosenfeld
Mediums
Mediums Description
white ink on black ink on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure
  • Literature — character — Little Phoebus
  • Literature — Blake — Island in the Moon
  • Fantasy — monster
Object Number
1992.53.2

Artwork Description

At age nineteen, Charles Seliger drew illustrations for songs from the unfinished satire, An Island in the Moon by William Blake (1757-1827), an English poet, painter, and printmaker.
Written around 1785, the manuscript combines classical Greek satire with a critique of one of the intellectual salons of the London bourgeoisie. Each of Seliger’s drawings depict one or more of the absurdly named characters from Blake’s fictional island, some of whom also represent friends and contemporaries of the author. Suction, the Epicurean, for example, is believed to correspond to Blake’s brother Robert, and Quid, the Cynic refers to Blake himself.
Blake’s song lyrics range from vulgar to menacing to humorous. While Old Corruption is considered an allegory for sin, the song for which Seliger drew O, I Say You Joe, Throw Us the Ball was the first recorded poem to focus on cricket, an English bat-and-ball sport.

Abstract Drawings, 2012

Works by this artist (81 items)

East Baltimore Documentary Survey Project
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Linda Rich, Houses were built in close proximity to packing houses and canneries at the turn of the century, 1977-1980, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1098, © 1975, George Jadowski
Houses were built in close proximity to packing houses and…
Date1977-1980
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Linda Rich, McElderry Park, 1979, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1161, © 1975, George Jadowski
McElderry Park
Date1979
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Linda Rich, Neighborhood boys by the Bankard-Gunther Mansion, Butchers Hill. The mansion, built in 1864, was originally the home of a well-to-do butcher who amassed his fortune during the Civil War by selling his beef and pork products to the Union Army, 1977-1980, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1154, © 1975, George Jadowski
Neighborhood boys by the Bankard-Gunther Mansion, Butchers…
Date1977-1980
gelatin silver print
Not on view

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George Segal, The Restaurant, 1975, brush and ink, pen and ink, oil wash, gouache, charcoal and collage: photograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.56
The Restaurant
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Hans Erni, "The reason, in respect of which we are rational beings, is common: if this is so, common also is the reason which commands us what to do, and what not to do; if this is so, there is a common law also; if this is so, we are fellow-citizens; if this is so, we are members of some political community; if this is so, the world is in a manner a state...My nature is rational and social; and my city and country, so far as I am Antonius, is Rome; but so far as I am a man, it is the world."--Marcus Aurelius Antonius, 121-180. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1950, gouache, scratchwork and india ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.88
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Jitterbugs (I)
Dateca. 1940-1941
pen and ink, gouache, and pencil on paper
Not on view