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Detail from Don Quixote (1950) by Hans Alexander Mueller
(1888-1963); color woodblock; 32.6 x 24.2 cm; ed. 260.
“Remember, lady, that loyal heart your slave, who for your
love submits to so many miseries.” So exclaimed the “never-deservedly-enough-extolled
knight-errant” Don Quixote de la Mancha, as he set out
on his adventures in the novel that would enchant the world for
centuries.
The year 2005 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of
Part I of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha by
Miguel de Cervantes de Saavedra (1547–1616). To commemorate
this literary milestone, the Fairchild Gallery presents Tilting
at Windmills: Don Quixote at 400 from October 17, 2005 to
January 8, 2006, with intriguing works from the Fine Print Collection
and the Rare Book Collection.
The importance of Don Quixote—one of the best selling
books in history, translated into dozens of languages—cannot
be overestimated; as collector and connoisseur Roderick S. Quiroz
(G’92) writes in the brochure accompanying the exhibition, “Don
Quixote touches on a seemingly infinite range of human concerns
and feelings, including friendship, tolerance, morality, the
nature of love, religion, philosophy, aesthetics, criminality,
and madness.”
Long a favorite subject for artists, Don Quixote is represented
by a number of outstanding works in the Fine Print Collection,
including a series of engravings from 1756 by English master
printmaker William Hogarth (1697–1764); and, from the past
century, a fascinating series of ten embossed color etchings
of scenes by Canadian artist Lucile Gilling (1905–1997)
from Don Quixote. The exhibition also features two works that
were commissioned by prestigious print clubs in the early 1950s,
at the semiseptcentennial of Don Quixote, a color woodcut by
Hans Alexander Mueller (1888–1963) and a color wood engraving
by Stanley Bate (b. 1903); along with a more recent color lithograph
ex libris plate by Czech artist Bohumil Krátký (b.
1913). The books on display, such as a handsome late-nineteenth
century volume illustrated by renowned engraver Gustave Doré (1832–1883),
unify publishing and art. Tilting at Windmills also showcases
some of the story’s many adaptations, from the eighteenth-century
French comic opera Sancho Pança dans son isle to the popular
ballet Don Quixote (1965) and the Broadway smash hit Man
of La Mancha (1965).
A gallery talk for Tilting at Windmills: Don Quixote at
400 will be held on Friday, November 18,
in conjunction with a symposium on Don Quixote being held by
the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
If you aren’t in the area to see Tilting at Windmills:
Don Quixote at 400, in the Fairchild Gallery in Lauinger Library
please
visit it online.
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