Elaine

Toby Edward Rosenthal found inspiration for this composition in Idylls of the King, a 19th-century version of the Arthurian legends written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In the poem, Elaine dies of a broken heart after being spurned by Sir Lancelot; Rosenthal’s painting depicts Elaine’s postmortem voyage from Astolat to Camelot: “In her right hand the lily, in her left / The letter—all her bright hair streaming down.” Rosenthal’s artistic choices reflect the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites, a group of English artists who favored highly naturalistic details, richly colored surfaces, and subjects drawn from medieval literary sources. After it was purchased by an American patron, Rosenthal’s work sparked Elaine hysteria: clubs were formed in her honor, dirges and waltzes were composed, and copies of Idylls of the King sold out in bookstores.

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German Workman

The Bedroom, 1889

Ein Sonntagnachmittag auf der Insel La Grande Jatte, 1884–86, border added 1888–89

Straße in Paris an einem regnerischen Tag, 1877

Auf der Terrasse, 1881

The Basket of Apples, c. 1893

Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), 1890–91

American Gothic, 1930

Nighthawks, 1942

Sculptor, Reclining Model, and Self-Portrait in the Form of a Sculpted Hercules (Sculpteur, modèle couché et autoportrait en Hercule sculpté), 1933

Lucretia, 1664

Los and His Spectre [verso], c. 1804/1807

Mythological Scene (Sword Fight between a Woman and a Man)

Baroque Centaur (Barocker Kentaur), 1939

Study for "Apollo and the Muses", c. 1921

Study of Apollo for "Apollo and the Muses", c. 1921

Study for "Classic and Romantic Art", c. 1921