Study of a Tree for Odysseus and the Sirens 1900

Curator: This is Otto Greiner's "Study of a Tree for Odysseus and the Sirens," housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Stark. It gives me a bleak, almost desolate impression. The monochromatic palette emphasizes the gnarled texture of the tree, and the composition feels very solitary. Curator: Indeed, it serves as a powerful symbol. The tree in this context, especially given the planned subject of Odysseus, is an anchor. A point of resistance against the seductive, perilous song. Editor: Resistance to temptation. A classically loaded theme, perfectly visualized through this single, weathered tree. I am thinking of the social and moral weight such imagery carried in late 19th-century Europe, where this piece would've been received. Curator: And the enduring nature of those struggles. The tree as an archetypal form; the sirens always calling. Editor: It leaves you pondering the different ways those stories still speak. Curator: It certainly does give us pause.