"Mr. O'Wilde, You are not the first one that has grasped at a Shadow" (published in "Harper's Bazar," February 11, 1882)
Nast caricatured Oscar Wilde repeatedly during the author's 1882 American lecture tour and here transforms him into Narcissus. Stretched along a dock, the famous defender of Aestheticism gazes at his reflection while holding the movement's emblematic sunflower, which is labeled "Notoriety" rather than "Art." Printed text nearby proposes avarice to be the driving force behind the author's exaggerated public personna. A dollar sign within the reflected blossom establishes the pool as a mirror of truth, a surface which transforms Wilde's lanky form into a lion (a punning reference to "lionizing" or celebrity seeking). This electrotype proof omits the title printed below Nast's cartoon in "Harper's Bazar." That text, used here as the title, emphasizes the subject's Irish origins by transforming his name to O'Wilde, then goes on to suggest that he is pursuing shadows.
Artwork Details
- Title: "Mr. O'Wilde, You are not the first one that has grasped at a Shadow" (published in "Harper's Bazar," February 11, 1882)
- Artist: Thomas Nast (American (born Germany), Landau 1840–1902 Guayaquil)
- Sitter: Oscar Wilde (Irish, Dublin 1854–1900 Paris)
- Date: originally published 1882
- Medium: Relief print and electrotype
- Dimensions: Sheet: 9 7/16 × 11 3/16 in. (23.9 × 28.4 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Thomas Nast Jr., Mabel Nast Crawford and Cyril Nast, 1933
- Object Number: 33.35.91
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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