A series of mixed-media and collaged art work representing animals from ‘Le Bestiaire: ou, Cortège d'Orphée’(1906) by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, a work that later inspired musical scores by Francis Poulenc and Louis Durey; the mythical Orpheus’ musical talents were so enchanting that when he played his lyre in the forest, all animals, both great and small, would flock to him in order to listen; it is this image that inspired Apollinaire’s animal poems, the musical scores and, more recently, Whitfield’s animal collages; these collages consist of reproduced images of, for instance, stained glass windows, religious art and sheet music, carefully arranged to embody the music-loving animals summoned by the lyre of Orpheus; each collage is accompanied by Apollinaire’s poem in French and in English.
With an introduction by and a biography of the artist, stapled, 21 x 15 cm, 36 pages, (Baden-Württemberg) 2021
