A trip to Hades with Hermes, Charon and The Souls of Acheron, by Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl!

In today’s episode we talk about Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl and his iconic life size painting The Souls of Acheron, painted in 1898 in Vienna. Known for his preference in painting mythological or historical scenes, Hirémy-Hirschl became one of Vienna’s most successful painters, alongside the likes of Gustav Klimt (in his mural painting period). The Souls of Acheron is quite an eerie image of desperation at its peak; it highlights the inability to escape the inescapable and it still provokes a chilling effect to the viewer today.
Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed spending time with a not so well-known artist. Stay tuned for more interesting future art stories from Layers in Art!
Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl (1860, Timisoara, Austro-Hungarian Empire -1933, Rome, Italy)
List of paintings in the video:
0:00:08 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, The Souls of Acheron, 1898
0:01:16 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Self-portrait, 1890-1910 (?)
0:01:25 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Ahasuerus at the End of the World, 1888
0:01:28 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Pompeian Scene, early 20th century
0:01:51 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, The Death of Germanicus, early 20th century
0:01:56 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, The Only Witness, 1898
0:02:13 - Gustav Klimt, The “Klimt Bridge” at the Kunsthistorische Museum, Scenes from ancient Egypt, 1890-1891
0:02:21 - Gustav Klimt, Litzlberg am Attersee, 1914-1915
0:02:30 - Paul Cezanne, The Large Bathers, 1898
0:02:34 - Edward Munch, The Scream, 1893
0:02:39 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Self-portrait, 1905-1910
0:02:47 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Portrait of the Artist's Wife (Isabella Henrietta Viktoria Ruston), late 19th century - early 20th century
0:02:54 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Portrait of the artists wife, early 20th century
0:03:34 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Visions of Rome, 1900?
0:03:32 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Sic Transit…(detail), 1912
0:03:39 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Vandals Entering Rome, late 19th century-early 20th century
0:03:49 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Preparatory sketch for The Souls of Acheron, 1898
0:05:22 - Print of Hermes Feeding a Soul to Charon, 1867
0:05:39 - Greek marble relief representing Hermes, sixth century B.C.
0:06:40 - Charles Grignon, Engraving representing the god Pluto (Hades), 1789
0:06:46 - Tiziano Vecellio (Titian), Sisyphus, 1548 or 1549
0:07:23 - Gustave Dore, Engraving for Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, plate 10 (Canto III - Charon herds the sinners onto his boat), 1857
0:07:30 - Gustave Dore, Engraving for Dante Alighieri’s Inferno - Charon, the Ferrymen of Hell, 1880
0:08:14 - Arnold Böcklin, The Isle of the Dead (fourth version), 1884
0:09:04 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Sheet with Studies of Children, ca. 1910
0:09:12 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Drapery study, early 19th century
0:09:12 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Study, early 19th century?
0:09:34 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, The Tomb of Achilles, c. 1910
0:09:38 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Mythological scene with Mermaids and Tritons, 1900-1920
0:09:42 - Oskar Kokoschka, The Bride of the Wind, 1913-1914
0:09:45 - Pablo Picasso, The Fairground, 1900
0:10:20 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Sic transit… (tryptic), 1912
0:01:24 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Portrait of the artist’s wife, 1895-1896
0:10:30 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Portrait of the artist’s daughter, Maud, early 20th century
0:01:36 - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, Self-portrait, 1900-1905
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