Prometheus stole fire from the Gods on the Olympus and gave it to the humans. He was punished for his hubris. Zeus chained him to a rock where an eagle (emblem of Zeus) came and picked out his liver. Every day the liver grew back and the torture would repeat.
Details
Alternate titles
Prométhée
2000
Signed/dated
Signed and dated Constant '89, bottom right in sanguine paint on brown fond
Collection Fondation Constant longterm loan to Rijksmuseum Twenthe, NL
CID
18
Inspired by the events in Kosovo. On April 12, 1999 Time Magazine printed a powerful cover photo by photographer Damir Sagolj of refugees from Kosovo with a woman with a white head scarf and a baby at her breast in front. It may have been this image that inspired Constant to paint Les éxpulsés. When you look at the original photo the white head scarf, the coloroud clothes in the middle of the line of people and the curved bend of the line of refugees are mirrored in Constants painting. However, Constants portrays the refugees on the back, focussing on where they are going, not on where they come from.
Details
English title
The Expelled
Alternate titles
De verdrevenen
2008
Signed/dated
Signed and dated Constant '99, top right on the horizon in sand coloured paint on yellow fond
Provenance
Constant
2005 Collection Fondation Constant, NL
2008 Longterm loan to Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, NL