The Merman
Date1901
Artist
Howard Pyle
(American illustrator, 1853–1911)
Illustration Citation"The Sea Man," by Josephine D. Daskam, in Harper's Monthly Magazine, December 1901
MediumBlack and white oil on illustration board
Dimensions18 x 9 1/2 in. (45.7 x 24.1 cm)
frame: 21 1/2 × 13 in. (54.6 × 33 cm)
frame: 21 1/2 × 13 in. (54.6 × 33 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Joseph Bancroft, 1941
Object number1941-4
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextHoward Pyle illustrated this poem about a mysterious sea-going man who spends seven years on land with a woman and then, sensing that it is his time to return to the sea to die, makes his wife promise not to retrieve his body. When her family forces her to bury him on land, a storm floods the town, obliterating it forever. Pyle gives both characters clothing, headgear, and facial expressions to match the otherworldly mood of the poem.
