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One
of a number of mythologies conceived by Albert Herter in the
1890’s
and earl 1900’s, The Garden of the Hesperides, may be the artist’s most
important work. Stylistically related to the last flowering of American
Pre-Raphaelite and American Renaissance painting, the work possesses a
balance of elements and serenity of mood rarely found in the work of
his
contemporaries. Unlike his portraits and decorative programs, The
Garden
of the Hesperides was painted as an independent work of art. It
remained
in Herter’s collection until his death in 1950.
The Garden
of the Hesperides,
shows the three nymphs, daughters of the west wind, Hesperus, who guard
the golden apples of Hera and Zeus on the Isle of the Blest. The apples
are the food of the gods; they bring those who eat them love,
fertility,
and forgetfulness. The golden apple tree and the garden surrounding it
are located facing west on an island in the Atlantic, which explains an
alternate name for the nymphs, Atlantides. The dragon Ladon shares
guardianship
with the Hesperides, or he shared it until he fell under the sword of
Hercules
whose eleventh labor was to kill the dragon and carry off the golden
fruit.
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Exhibited: |
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- Sendecor Gallery, Albert Herter,
New York, 1912
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Literature: |
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- Thomas Wentworth Higginson,
Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic, New York, 1923 -
reproduced.
- Albert Herter, The Gift of Eternal
Life, 1929 - reproduced
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