Boreas 1903

In a single glance the eye sweeps violently around Waterhouse’s Boreas, tossed by the waves of painted curving strokes, surrendering to mystical winds of artistic genius. Combining the Impressionist styles of his contemporaries with the work of the English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Waterhouse’s works Boreas, A Naiad, Pandora, and Ophelia echoed artistic subjects classical in nature and elegant in symmetrical perfection and composition. Waterhouse journeyed beyond Greek mythology, illustrating British’s own legends. Lady of Shalott, based on the poem by Tennyson of the same name, perhaps remains one of his most recognizable pieces and a favorite reproduction of both artists and art lovers. Like Boreas the subject is female, beautiful, mystical, and surrounded by intricately detailed natural beauty in the classical style of the Pre-Raphaelites. Boreas, chief of the Greek wind gods, is exemplified in Waterhouse’s painting by his use of a cool palette, sweeping motion, and subtle use of light and shadow. Just as the Greek god devoured the young Athenian princess Oreithyia in a cloud, sweeping brushstrokes, gray and cold like the wind, envelop the young maiden in Boreas.