Art, Symbol & Imagination
Faust Confronts Mephistopheles: Harry Clarke’s Plate
A patterned dark figure reaches towards a tall pale companion holding a staff. Two long-legged creatures perch above them inside a rough organic frame. Near the drama’s closing scenes, Clarke makes the relationship between the companions physically unequal: one advances with spread hands, while the other remains upright and guarded. Their robes reverse the usual distribution of dark and light. The overhead creatures extend the sense of scrutiny around the exchange.
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Citation
Harry Clarke. "Faust Confronts Mephistopheles: Harry Clarke’s Plate" [editorial title]. In Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; translated by Bayard Taylor; illustrations by Harry Clarke. Undated Arden Book Company edition; Faust Part One, Bayard Taylor translation, Harry Clarke illustrations, undated edition, Arden Book Company. Source scan leaf 239. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/faust-clarke-238
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Complete source design inspected individually. Editorial title; surrounding paper and unrelated text cropped away, integrated ornament retained. No tonal alteration.
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From the book
FaustJohann Wolfgang von Goethe; translated by Bayard Taylor; illustrations by Harry ClarkeUndated editionMore from this book
The Haloed Mother and the Candle: Clarke’s Faust
The Giant Figure and the Candle: Clarke’s Faust
Faust and His Dark Companion: Harry Clarke’s PlateRelated illustrations
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Harry Clarke. Faust Confronts Mephistopheles: Harry Clarke’s Plate. Faust. Scan leaf 239. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/faust-clarke-238