A. FERRANJO (DATES UNKNOWN) ELECTRE / Me. LOUISE SILVAIN. Circa 1907.
63 1/4x47 inches, 160 3/4x119 1/2 cm. Ch. Wall & Cie., Paris.
Condition B+: tears and repaired tears at edges, some into image; creases in margins and image and along vertical and horizontal folds; minor abrasion in lower text. Mounted on Japan.
This haunting and bold poster illustrates French stage actress Louise Silvain as Electra, the title character in Sophocles' Greek tragedy. The play takes place after the Trojan War, and narrates the story of Electra and her brother Orestes' all-consuming quest for revenge on their mother, Clytemnestra, and stepfather Aegisthus, for the murder of their father, Agamemnon. Silvain is depicted in a black robe and shawl, a costume adapted to indicate her grief, against a fiery background accentuating her inner fury. This production, by the Comédie-Française, was adapted for the stage by Alfred Poizat in 1907. rare.