Lot Essay
It was Gromaire himself who expressed to Tériade his wish to illustrate Macbeth, and in producing the etchings for this ambitious project the artist worked closely both with Shakespeare's original text and Victor Hugo's translation.
Gromaire's etchings concentrate on the atmosphere and tragedy of the drama using strong bold lines to capture the essential character of the drama of Macbeth who commits crime after crime, driven by his over-ambitious wife and his own subconscious desires which reveal themselves in supernatural appearances.
'Il faut reconnaître une profonde convergence entre le monde des sorcières du poète de Stratford-en-Avon et le trait noir infernal du peintre' (Hommage à Tériade, p. 109).
Gromaire's etchings concentrate on the atmosphere and tragedy of the drama using strong bold lines to capture the essential character of the drama of Macbeth who commits crime after crime, driven by his over-ambitious wife and his own subconscious desires which reveal themselves in supernatural appearances.
'Il faut reconnaître une profonde convergence entre le monde des sorcières du poète de Stratford-en-Avon et le trait noir infernal du peintre' (Hommage à Tériade, p. 109).