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Dimensions: measurements 48 by 38 in. alternate measurements (121.9 by 96.5 cm)
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Provenance: Mrs. T. Whitney Blake, Katonah, New York, 1930
Reuben Gordon
Samuel Saber (gift from the above, 1970)
Gift to the present owner from the above, circa 1990 (his daughter)
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Exhibited: Boston, Massachusetts, St. Botolph Club, An Exhibition of Illustrations for The Odyssey by N. C. Wyeth, January-February 1930, no. 6
Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, Exhibition of Paintings by N. C. Wyeth, February-March 1930 no. 22 as Calypso and Odesseus
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Literature: George Herbert Palmer, trans., The Odyssey of Homer, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1929, illustrated opposite p. 62
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N.C. Wyeth: The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals, New York, 1972, p. 213
David Michaelis, N.C. Wyeth: A Biography, New York, 1998, p. 315
Christine Podmaniczky, N.C. Wyeth: A Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. II, London, 2008, no. 1096, p. 513, illustrated
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Notes: Painted in 1929.
This worked illustrated George Herbert Palmer's translation of Homer's Odyssey published in 1929, accompanying the story of Odysseus and Calypso. Calypso made Odysseus her lover for seven years and refused to let him leave, promising him immortality if he stayed. As a result, Odysseus was strongly attracted to her by night yet wept by the shore for his home and family by day. Zeus eventually intervened and had Hermes tell Calypso to let him go. The illustration was accompanied by the caption "Unhappy man, sorrow no longer here, nor let your days be wasted, for I at last will freely let you go."
