King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid 1906

Albert Pinkham Ryder made this dark, moody scene, King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid, with oil paint, and, knowing Ryder, probably lots of wax. It’s all in tones of brown and black, with pale figures emerging from the gloom. You can almost feel the push and pull, the adjustments and revisions he made, trying to conjure a scene that existed more in his mind than in reality. I imagine him working on this, scraping back layers, adding more, letting the painting guide him. The way the figures are barely defined, especially the beggar maid, could she be a ghost or a dream? The paint looks thick, almost sculptural, and the surface has so much texture. That one upward reaching hand and the dark wash of the background. What was he thinking? Maybe he was fascinated by the story of the king who gives up his throne for love, or maybe he was just drawn to the contrast between light and dark, and the way the paint could evoke a sense of mystery. I am reminded of other painters like El Greco, who were also interested in creating these ethereal, spiritual scenes. There’s an ongoing conversation between artists across time, each inspiring and pushing the other’s creative boundaries.