""Europa and the Bull" From the Mythological Suite IX by Alvar

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You have to hand it to the bull. Not just taking Europa with his unassailable power (he is Zeus in … Read more You have to hand it to the bull. Not just taking Europa with his unassailable power (he is Zeus in disguise, after all) he brings along a retinue for his seduction of the beautiful Phoenician princess. There’s music and the perfumed scent of petals floated on soft Mediterranean breezes from the minions. Ah yes, gentle and alluring. That works.
Desiring to continue the affair, Zeus has a hideaway already planned. Europa bestride her bull is carried over the sea to the island of Crete where he reveals his true identity. She bore him three sons. He gave her jaw-dropping gifts, including the transformation of the no-longer-necessary white bull into the constellation Taurus (Beat that, mere mortals!)
As a postscript, Europa later married King Asterius of Crete, who kindly adopted Zeus' sons. Honestly, with the continent of Europe named after her, it’s hard to top that in a bid for immortality. (We can’t wait to stream this saga.)
The lithograph's creator, Àlvar Suñol Muñoz-Ramos, born in 1935, is a Catalan modernist artist known simply as Alvar. Recognized as one of the few remaining living Modernists, his paintings, sculptures, and lithographs have appeared in more than 40 museum exhibitions and 95 galleries and museums across the United States, Asia, and the aforementioned Europe.
"Europa and the Bull" is one of five color embossed lithographs that comprise the "Suite Mythologique" created in 1984. Alvar's lithographs, including this one with embossing, a signed artist proof, 35/35, are said to be characterized by their delicate forms, sensitivity to color, and the incorporation of embossing to add texture and depth. Here, the embossed sun rays wreathed in a Greek key pattern whisper of the origin of the myth. Avar often creates a "resting place" within the embossed design, allowing his subjects to recline, as in this case where a cushioning flow of embossed wind currents conveys the feeling of floating.

Signature: Lower right. Edition: Lower left. Certificate of authenticity verso. See less