The Sea Prometheus 1975
48” X 36”
oil on canvas
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Greek
and Finnish mythologies merge in this painting. In Greek mythology
Prometheus stole fire (a symbol of knowledge) from Olympus
to give to mankind, thereby defying Zeus who had him chained
to a rock where an eagle (a vulture in the painting) feeds
upon him every day. Below his knees the painter provides him
with the Well of Yggdrasil from the Finnish epic Kalevala.
The well becomes a womb where only one sperm looks over its
shoulder, contemplating whether it should fertilize the “rose”.
(My wife and I had no children.) Yet life abounds throughout
the canvas, including two views (at the bottom) of our small
poodle in Paris: one as a tomboy and the other as a strutting
young lady proud of her recent clipping.
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