Portrait of Oscar Wilde, Frontispiece
Date2011
Artist
Barry Moser
(American illustrator, painter, printmaker, and author, born 1940)
Illustration CitationSalomé: A Tragedy in One Act by Oscar Wilde, translated by Joseph Donohue (University of Virginia Press 2011)
MediumWood engraving
Dimensionscomposition: 7 × 4 1/2 in. (17.8 × 11.4 cm)
sheet: 9 3/8 × 6 in. (23.8 × 15.2 cm)
sheet: 9 3/8 × 6 in. (23.8 × 15.2 cm)
Credit LineAcquisition Fund, 2015
Object number2015-5.2
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextMoser’s bust-length portrait of Wilde captures the now familiar facial characteristics of the author—wavy hair, Roman nose, and dandyish fur-collared coat. Moser’s trademark striated patterning, or “lining,” with subtle tonal variations, captures the contours of Wilde’s face with photographic exactitude. The identity of the sitter is never in doubt.
