- Gallery Text
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The mermaid was a popular figure during the nineteenth century. Hans Christian Andersen first published “The Little Mermaid” in 1837, and other writers, from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, to Oscar Wilde, also treated the theme. Whether depicted as a destructive temptress or helpless victim, the mermaid embodied the sacrifices associated with living in two worlds. It is not surprising that this creature captivated contemporary observers, who were living through unprecedented cultural, political, and social changes. This canvas is the last of five paintings Vedder made of this subject, which all depict a fisherman hauling a frightened mermaid from the sea in his net. The narrative may be based on a specific, as yet unidentified, source.
- Identification and Creation
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- Object Number
- 1980.82
- People
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Elihu Vedder, American (New York, NY 1836 - 1923 Rome, Italy)
- Title
- Fisherman and Mermaid
- Classification
- Paintings
- Work Type
- painting
- Date
- 1888-1889
- Culture
- American
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/227917
- Location
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Level 2, Room 2130, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Pre–Raphaelites and Their Legacy
View this object's location on our interactive map - Physical Descriptions
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- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 41 x 71.8 cm (16 1/8 x 28 1/4 in.)
framed: 72.4 x 102.9 x 7 cm (28 1/2 x 40 1/2 x 2 3/4 in.) - Inscriptions and Marks
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- Signed: black oil paint, l.l.: Elihu Vedder / Rome, 1888-9
- Provenance
- Sold by the artist to Joseph Randolph Coolidge, April 11, 1888; to his son, Julian Lowell Coolidge; to his son, John Coolidge; his gift to Fogg Art Museum, 1980.
- Acquisition and Rights
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- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of John P. Coolidge
- Accession Year
- 1980
- Object Number
- 1980.82
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
- The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
- Descriptions
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- Description
- Another version of this painting, dated 1879, is in the Hood Museum, Dartmouth College (P.982.53).
- Publication History
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Elihu Vedder, The Digressions of V, Houghton Mifflin Company (Boston and New YOrk, 1910), p. 486
Jacquelynn Baas, The Fisherman and the Mermaid: A Recent Acquisition Reflects an Old Story, The Quarterly Review, Hood Museum of Art (Hanover, New Hampshire, Summer 1938), vol. 1 / no. 3, p. 23
Regina Soria, Elihu Vedder: American Visionary Artist in Rome (1836-1923), Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (Rutherford, NJ, 1970), p. 202
Barbara J. MacAdam, American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art (Hanover and London, 2007), p. 61
Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, and Kimberly Orcutt, ed., American Paintings at Harvard, Volume Two, Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Stained Glass by Artists Born 1826-1856, Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2008), p. 375-76, cat. 408, ill. p. 376
- Exhibition History
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Sublimations: Art and Sensuality in the 19th Century, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/13/1996 - 07/21/2002
32Q: 2130 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050
- Subjects and Contexts
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Google Art Project
Collection Highlights
- Related Articles
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This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
