Mark borgh1 Fine Art Inc - American Art - Elihu Vedder (1836-1923)

Elihu Vedder (1836 -1923)

The Soul of the Sunflower
(Homage to William Blake)

Executed 1870

Oil on panel

12 x 11 inches

Signed and dated lower right Elihu Vedder Rome April 1870

Ex-Collection:
The Artist
Private Collection until 1990
Sale: Sothebys NY, May 24th 1990, lot number 64
Private Collection until the present

Exhibitions:
The Tile Club and the Aesthetic Movement in America, The Museum at Stony Brook and traveling
1999 -2000

The Soul of the Sunflower held a special interest for the artist. There were numerous studies on paper which were found in artist estates of the artist. It is known in three different mediums. The work depicted here in oil. Vedder used his designs for a fire-back which was created in cast iron. He again reprised the image in a hand painted glazed tile. Vedder belonged to The Tile Club, whose members included William Merritt Chase and other prominent American artists of the period. Highly finished like Minerva, it has a more spiritual meaning than most of the works done by artist at the time. This work was painted in direct response to the poem by the British visionary William Blake. The Soul of the Sunflower also retains it's original frame, more than likely designed by the artist.

AH, SUNFLOWER
Ah, sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done;
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my Sunflower wishes to go
William Blake (1757-1827)

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