Casting the spell
Charles RICHARDSON: artist
Casting the spell reflects the artist’s awareness of the international vogue for intense mysticism expressed through the Art Noveau style. The image is probably derived from the central female character in H Rider Haggard’s novel ‘She’ published in 1887. Haggard wrote of an eternally youthful woman presiding over a lost kingdom, a character that Carl Jung described as being a striking example of the anima concept.
Title
Casting the spell
Artist/Maker and role
Charles RICHARDSON: artist
Date
1896
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
171.5 x 76.9 cm
Credit line
Purchased with funds from the Great Australian Paintings Appeal, 1992
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
1992/0079