Description
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Rosemary Valadon is one of Australia’s leading artists, and has won such prestigeous art awards as the Blake Prize and the Portia Geach. A keen opera lover, Rosemary has focussed on the 15th Phantom who married an Italian opera singer in Rome. The 15th Phantom succeeded his father in ca.1831, and so he was probably present in Italy at the time Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) was composing his famous operas. Indeed, there is some suggestion that Bellini might have actually encountered the Ghost Who Walks and was inspired by him! One of his most important operas I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (1830), was based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Perhaps Bellini heard the tale of the 3rd Phantom who played Juliet on the opening night? The same opera speaks of “ … my son the valiant warrior … who unites his destiny to mine … ” — perhaps a hint of the father-to-son progression for the Oath of the Skull? And then there is Bellini’s next opera La sonnambula (1831) which translates as The Sleepwalker — perhaps a reference to the famous title of Ghost Who Walks? Coincidence or fact … ?
Rosemary has a brilliant gift of being able to successfully meld the most extraordinary colour combinations, and this painting is a perfect example. Bruce James, a long-time phan of The Phantom who also happens to be the art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, recently wrote: “Valadon is producing increasingly charged, increasingly expert paintings on the theme of self and self-representation … if she chose, Valadon could whip up a rattling society portrait, a la Sargent, at the drop of an ostrich-feathered chapeau.”
Note: It is worth observing that a different historical interpretation is taken in Scandinavia, where the 15th Phantom is said to have married Juliet Adams, otherwise known as Captain Amazon. Stories that originally mentioned the 15th Phantom marrying an Italian opera singer were re-lettered by Semic/Egmont to say that it was the 5th Phantom!
About this Series
In 1997, 99.94 Editions began production of a series of limited edition art prints depicting the history of The Phantom. This company, based in Newcastle NSW Australia, is headed by Dietmar Lederwasch. Dietmar is a long-time Phantom phan and is putting his heart and soul into this enormous project. In the interests of informing Phantom Phans of what they can expect from these prints, I’ve reproduced some of their promotional material and provided preview images of the prints produced so far, and some still in preparation. Firstly, a few words to describe what this thing is all about:
“In the years to come a portrait of each and every generation of The Phantom will be released as a print by artists from around the world. Edition numbers will be reserved for those who wish to collect the entire series. Each print will be produced from the original on archival, museum quality paper which will last for many generations to come. The prints will be strictly limited to 400 Australasian copies, 400 export copies plus a 10% contributors proof run. The signature of the artist in graphite confirms the authenticity and limitedness of each print as well as confirming that the artist is satisfied with the fidelity of the print to the original. 99.94 Editions will always endeavour to produce the ultimate in limited edition collectables by using the best creative talents, the best materials and the best methods of production. All prints have so far been printed by Veritage Press at Lisarow with colour separation by Reprographics.”
