1887
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Fates Gathering in the Stars is a 1887 oil by Elihu Vedder, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows three women, the Fates, working with thread. They are surrounded by stars and have tools like a spindle and shears. The painting is based on an illustration Elihu Vedder made for a book of poetry, which is an interesting fact about this work. The Fates are from Greek mythology and decide how long people live. Check out the technique of glazing to learn more about how this painting was made.
Elihu Vedder depicted the three Fates of Greek mythology working the thread of life: Clotho spins the thread, Lachesis fixes its length, and Atropos cuts it at the appointed time of death. Their symbolic tools—spindle, distaff, and shears—rest in the foreground, emphasizing the Fates’ decisive role in matters of life and death. Vedder adapted this painting from an illustration he had designed for an 1884 publication by Edward FitzGerald—a translation of the work of 11th-century poet Omar Khayyám, The Rubáiyát . Vedder was attracted to mysterious, visionary subject matter. Here, he explored…
Henry Melville Whitney, Brookline, MA, 1887; American Art Association, New York, 1917; George H. Ainslie, New York, 1917. Montross Gallery, New York, by 1919; sold by them to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1919.
Boston, Doll and Richards Gallery, Mar. 18 – ?, 1887. New York, H. Wunderlich & Co., Apr. 1887. Paris, France, Palais du Champ de Mars, Galerie des Beaux–Arts, Exposition Universelle Internationale, May 5–Oct. 31, 1889, no. 305 (Les parques se rassemblant dans les etoiles). New York, American Art Gallery, Valuable American and Foreign Oil Paintings by Distinguished Masters of Modern Schools, Mar. 12–16, 1917, no. 73 as The Three Fates. Art Institute of Chicago, Special Exhibition of the Works in the Friends of American Art Collection, May 15–June 15, 1919. San Francisco, The California Palace…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Elihu Vedder (26 February 1836 – 29 January 1923) was an American symbolist painter, book illustrator and poet from New York City.
See the richer artist page
