“Cassandra” by Eugene Berman Postcard

Pinned between a burning edifice and a heavy wooden structure, the mysterious figure robed in red pauses with her back to the viewer. Cassandra, the mythological Trojan priestess depicted here, observes the fiery destruction of her home in Troy. She predicted the Trojans’ defeat by the Greeks, but no one heeded her prophecy, the result of a curse bestowed upon her by the god Apollo.  

Eugene Berman executed this work during World War II and illustrates profound visual parallels between the devastation of Europe and that of the Trojan War. Berman heightens the drama of the scene with intense shades of orange and crimson and richly textured fabrics, particularly the u-shaped remnant draping off the table edge. The enigmatic figure of Cassandra is potentially inspired by film star Ona Munson, who appeared in many of the artist’s works during this time and was later married to Berman.