Gloucester and Edgar (From King Lear)
Modern and Contemporary Art

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Gloucester and Edgar (From King Lear)
Artwork Details
Artist/Maker
Oskar Kokoschka
Austrian, 1886–1980
Austrian, 1886–1980
Date
1963
Medium
Lithograph on paper
Accession #
1979.61 L
Dimensions
Location
Currently Not on View
Description
Gloucester and Edgar
Act IV, Scene VI: “This world I do renounce”
On the heath, sightless Gloucester has met his son Edgar but does not recognize him. He asks Edgar to lead him to a cliff at Dover so that he may jump to his death. By a trick, Edgar convinces his father that he has miraculously survived the fall. Kokoschka depicts Gloucester without clothing, signifying that the once powerful man has been reduced to naked despair.
Credit
Gift of Dr. Sherman N. Leis through the Ackerman FoundationImage Copyright
© Fondation Oskar Kokoschka/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ProLitteris, Zurich