This post is an opportunity to consider whether the elements and tension of tragedy can be depicted in painting. There is special emphasis here on those that may reflect or draw upon Nietzsche’s views about tragedy. Some of the following might be candidates for consideration of the possibility of a tragic dynamic within visual art. To the extent that some contain elements related to tragedy or the Dionysian, it will interesting to extend whether any of them do and why some do not.
Please note the varied times and art movements exemplified. Are some modes of painting better at this than others? Are there other examples you think might fit?
Raphael, Transfiguration, 1523
I include this first because it is the one painting that Nietzsche mentions within BT for including elements that show something of the structure of tragedy and invite the possibility of considering whether that structure can be conveyed in a painting through its form or content.
Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne (1523)
Some more Titian:
Titian, Perseus and Andromeda (1556)
Titian, Death of Acteon (1575)
Francisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son, 1823
Goya, Witches Sabbath, 1798
Giorgio de Chirico, Ariadne, 1913
Giorgio de Chirico Melancholia, 1916
Renoir, The Star (Dancer on Stage) (1878)
Gustave Klimt, Allegory of Tragedy, 1897
Gustave Klimt, Allegory of Sculpture (1889)
Kirchner, Bathers at Moritzburg (1909)
Kirchner, “Street Scene” (1914)
Max Beckmann, Actors, 1935
Max Beckmann, Departure, 1935
Paul Klee, Equals Infinity (1932)
Mark Rothko, Orange and Yellow (1956)