Etching 'The Abduction of Proserpina ' by Jean-Louis VIARD

Jean-Louis VIARD (Orsay 1917 - 2009 Paris)

The Abduction of Proserpina (Prix de Rome 1942)

1942

etching ; 2nd state

45 x 39cm; 53 x 45 cm

titled, dated and annotated 'The kidnapping of Proserpina' - Prix de Rome (2nd state) - 1942'; stamp 'Institut de France / Academy of Fine Arts'



An engraver and abstract painter, also known for his tapestries, Jean-Louis Viard entered the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris in 1938. He won the second Grand Prix de Rome for engraving with his Abduction of Proserpina in 1942, work offered to you here.

The artist began his career by creating illustrations for numerous books. among these, the poems of Pierre de Ronsard or the novels of Edgar Allan Poë, among others. In 1951, he was awarded the Casa de Velasquez in Madrid. His stay in Spain offered him many inspirations, both in the literary field and in that of landscape. During this period, the artist entered a symbolist vein, where Christianity and personal spiritual interpretations blended. Later, his engravings evolved towards a resolutely surrealist style.Back in France, he became a drawing professor for the City of Paris from 1951 to 1989. He won several engraving and tapestry prizes, and became head of the tapestry section at the Salon Comparisons. Also a drawing lecturer at the École Polytechnique, he teaches drawing in the evening, rue Lepic in Paris.

The subject of this engraving is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book V, 385-424). On the orders of Venus, Cupid pierces with one of his arrows the heart of Pluto, god of the Underworld, who falls madly in love with Proserpina. Crazy about her, and knowing that she will reject him, he deceives the vigilance of his mother Ceres – goddess of agriculture – and kidnaps her so that she can sit at his side in the Underworld. Ceres, furious at the kidnapping of her daughter, demands her return and refuses to take care of the crops until she has found her. An agreement is concluded between the goddess of the Earth and the god of the Underworld: Proserpina will spend the first half of the year with one and the second with the other. This myth intends to explain the cycle of the seasons.

Ref: 6EYGOYEH7B