I Saw Othello’s Visage in His Mind

Fred Wilson, I Saw Othello's Visage in His Mind, 2013, Murano glass and wood, 64 in. × 51 12 in. × 7 in. (162.6 × 130.8 × 17.8 cm) irreg., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2019.8, © 2013, Fred Wilson

Artwork Details

Title
I Saw Othello’s Visage in His Mind
Artist
Fabricator
Ongaro & Fuga
Date
2013
Dimensions
64 in. × 51 12 in. × 7 in. (162.6 × 130.8 × 17.8 cm) irreg.
Copyright
© 2013, Fred Wilson
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
Murano glass and wood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Literature — Shakespeare — Othello
Object Number
2019.8

Artwork Description

Fred Wilson explores history, race, and identity through installations, sculptures, and other art forms. I Saw Othello's Visage in His Mind is one of Wilson's many meditations on Shakespeare's Othello, a tragedy set in Renaissance Venice. To create the work, Wilson collaborated with a historic glass studio in Venice, Italy. Each of its five stacked mirrors are engraved with scallops, scrolls, and botanical sprays that recall the city's rich decorative arts tradition. The black glass makes our reflections appear phantomlike and racially ambiguous, inviting us to consider what Wilson calls "the fluidity, inconsistency, and fragility of the notion of race." Perception, illusion, and race are also critical themes in Shakespeare's play; Othello, a black military officer, is deceived into believing his wife, Desdemona, who is a white noblewoman, has betrayed him. The artwork's title is taken from Desdemona's line in Act I, as she explains how clearly she saw Othello's honorable character and chose to marry him despite the racial conventions of their time. Misapprehension imperils their true love, bringing them both to a tragic end in the play that Wilson calls, "monstrous, magnificent, and mournful."

Works by this artist (7 items)

Miles Burkholder Carpenter, Bull's Head, 1972, carved and painted wood, rubber, and thread, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.234
Bull’s Head
Date1972
carved and painted wood, rubber, and thread
On view
Miles Burkholder Carpenter, Self-Portrait (Indian Brave), 1967, wood, wool, linen, feathers, metal, paint and fur, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.40A-C
Self-Portrait (Indian Brave)
Date1967
wood, wool, linen, feathers, metal, paint and fur
Not on view
Miles Burkholder Carpenter, WATER GATE, 1974, carved and painted wood, metal, paper, rubber hose, rubber bands, string, sawdust, and ballpoint pen and ink, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.237
WATER GATE
Date1974
carved and painted wood, metal, paper, rubber hose, rubber bands, string, sawdust, and ballpoint pen and ink
Not on view
Miles Burkholder Carpenter, Root Monster, 1968, carved and painted tree roots, rubber, metal, and string, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.238
Root Monster
Date1968
carved and painted tree roots, rubber, metal, and string
Not on view