Thetis

Warrington Colescott

Warrington Colescott plays on the themes of Greek mythology and the 19th century American West in this Surrealist, mixed-technique color intaglio. Thetis, a goddess who appears as various sea-related figures depending on interpretations of Greek texts, is a daughter of the ancient sea god Nereus, and mother to Achilles. Colescott shows her as a nude woman with another, mermaid-like form beside her as if to suggest her impending transformation. In the background, a man in a ten gallon hat and kerchief rides a horse in a corral; he might represent Thetis’ husband Peleus, who was gifted the immortal horses Balius and Xanthus by Poseidon, god of the sea, upon their marriage. Colescott’s mastery of the metal plate and his exploration of techniques and tools, expressed through abstracted ideas, is at its height in this complex, yet balanced, composition.