The Siren...JW Waterhouse. 16x24 print on canvas. Pay for first print to ship, all others ship FREE!

The Siren....

Print size... 16" x 24"

Originally painted in 1900, oil on canvas

By John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)

This is Southeby's description of this beautiful work of art...

"In the aftermath of a shipwreck, an exhausted survivor struggles towards the safety of the shore. He clings to an algae-clad rock without the strength to pull himself from the dark waters that surge and ebb around him. The treacherous currents and undertows threaten to pull him under the waves and almost all his strength is gone. At this moment of crisis, he is surprised by the beautiful vision of a young girl sitting on the rock above him with pearly-white skin and with lips parted in song. Her passive expression is enigmatic and whether she will help him or harm him we cannot know but we can be sure that he is spellbound by her pale beauty and magic song. Her abalone-shell harp and pearl hair decoration identify her as one of the sirens – ancient beguiling enchantresses of the ocean who lured mariners to their doom with their seductive song. The lower part of her legs, splashed by the spray of the sea, are magically transformed into the glistening fish scales and fins of a mermaid. Her hair is the auburn hue that in the nineteenth century became a potent symbol of the femme fatale. But she is not the vicious predatory sea-creature painted in continental Europe by the likes of Arnold Bocklin, Franz von Stuck or Gustave Moreau. She appears innocent of the harm her singing has caused and continues to pluck at the strings of her harp and gaze down at the drowning sailor below, as curious of him as he is of her."

He was born in Rome in 1849 to English artist parents.  Very little is known of Waterhouse's private life - only a few letters have survived so for many years, the identity of his models has been a mystery. One letter that has survived indicates that Mary Lloyd, the model for Lord Leighton's masterpiece Flaming June (which I also sell prints of!) posed for Waterhouse. One of his final works was The Enchanted Garden, left unfinished on his easel at his death, and now in the collection of the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool. He died of cancer in 1917 at 67 years old in England. That last picture is the man, himself. Quite a dapper fellow, no?

This currently resides in a private collection. It last sold in 2018 for about $5 million dollars.

♦ All wall art is printed on a durable canvas that mimics an actual painting.  Being canvas, has texture. It doesn't buckle, tear or crease like paper posters. I can't tell you how many I've had that get torn and bent and ripped. Ive had paper prints that ripple with humidity, even after framing. Canvas just won't do that. They also won't fade and the colors are so beautiful and true and the details are impeccable. You can actually see the brushstrokes and the crazing of the paint. And they're so much easier to frame! Or just hang them as they are.

♦ These are shipped rolled in a protective tube. 

♦ Shipping deal is for 2 or more prints. Pay to ship the first one, all others in the same order, ride for free!

♦ I'm sure you all know this but I have to actually put it on here...These are PRINTS. Not actual paintings. 

♦ This is for the print only, No frame is included

♦ I believe everyone should have art in their home, no matter what the form. I'm trying to keep these prices low for just that reason. This does NOT reflect on their quality. I just really want people to be able to afford these and enjoy them...and who doesn't want a copy of a $4 million dollar painting for $16?

♦ As of now, I have a somewhat limited stock. As they sell and as I see what people like, I will stock more and more sizes. I am trying to vary them (not just what I like) so check back often!

♦ Due to indicvidual monitor settings, colors may vary