Black Light: Myth and Meaning in Modern Painting

Opening a new dialogue between modern and ancient, Black Light explores living myth in modern paintings

Examines four paintings from the Modern tradition in the light of episodes from antique mythology

As the myths illuminate the paintings, and paintings throw light on the myths, Gooding shows that themes from ancient sources can be seen to resonate in modern representations

Traces unexpected thematic correspondences across two millennia of literature and art, and finds that wherever meaning is sought through interpretation, myth becomes an indispensable tool of analysis

In the work of classical authors such as Sophocles and Ovid, Gooding finds mythic elements which are also present in paintings by Manet, Matisse, Richards and Warhol