That Right Promethean Fire: Shakespeare Illustrated

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, this exhibit will explore the legacy of artistic engagement with the Bard’s plays. From the monumental project of the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery to the Weimar Republic; from Victorian America to contemporary U.S. poetry, Shakespeare’s work has routinely incited artists to respond in interesting and diverse ways. Here, a selection of paintings, prints, photography, and books will illuminate how artists such as Angelika Kauffman, Eugène Delacroix, Max Beckmann, and Rockwell Kent have engaged with the rich corpus of Shakespeare’s work. Drawn from the collections of the Davis Museum, Special Collections of the Clapp Library, and the Wellesley College Archives, Shakespeare Illustrated will also highlight Wellesley’s profound interest in Shakespeare over more than a century of time.

Curated by Meredith Fluke, Kemper Curator of Academic Programs at the Davis, in collaboration with William Cain,Mary Jewett Gaiser Professor of English and Ruth Rogers, Curator of Special Collections at Wellesley College. The exhibition is generously supported by Wellesley College Friends of Art.