Gods in Exile

Date:  1931

Medium: Wood engraving

Dimensions (cm.): 9.3 x 7.6

Variants: A trial proof in collection of the Metropolitan Msueum of Art, New York, is incompletely carved. Annotations on proof are probably by Jean Charlot.

Alternate titles: Unknown

Published edition: Unknown

Contemporary publication: Heinrich Heine, Gods in Exile, title page (see commentary, below)

Principal references: Information to be added

Selected additional references (illustrated): Caplow 2017, 76

Commentary: Méndez created this print after his first trip to the United States as one of several illustrations for an edition of the essay Gods in Exile by the German poet and writer Heinrich Heine. The essay, in which the Greek gods were portrayed as living in exile after having been superseded by Christianity, was originally published in 1854. The new edition was conceived in 1930 by a group of book and printing aficionados in Los Angeles, California, but not actually published until 1962, when Grant Dahlstrom published a hand-printed edition of about 100 copies at the Castle Press, Pasadena, California. (Peter Schneider)

Comentario: Méndez realizó este grabado despues de su primer viaje a Estados Unidos para ilustrar una edición del ensayo Dioses en el exilio, del poeta y escritor alemán Heinrich Heine. El ensayo, en el que se retrataba a los dioses griegos en el exilio tras haber sido sustituidos por el cristianismo, se publicó originalmente en 1854. La nueva edición fue concebida en 1930 por un grupo de bibliofilos de Los Ángeles, California, pero no se publicó hasta 1962, cuando Grant Dahlstrom publicó una edición impresa a mano de unas 100 ejemplares en la Castle Press, Pasadena, California. (Peter Schneider)

Catalogue record number: 501