The Cave of the Storm Nymphs by Poynter: Beauty in the Sea's Shadow (1903)
Three bare nymphs lounge at the mouth of a sea cave while surf boils beyond them. One toys with treasure; light from outside the cavern slides across skin, shell, and hair. In Sir Edward Poynter's The Cave of the Storm Nymphs (1903), beauty is the bait - and the storm is already writing the ending. Quick facts Artist: Sir Edward John Poynter (1836-1919) Date: 1903 Medium: Oil on canvas Notable fact: Late academic myth picture by a former president of the Royal Academy; triangular grouping of three sea nymphs Sir Edward John Poynter, The Cave of the Storm Nymphs , 1903. Oil on canvas. Sirens Without the Soft Focus Poynter, Paris-born, London-trained, and later president of the Royal Academy, specialized in large historical and mythological canvases. Here the nymphs form a tight triangular group against restless water. They lure sailors to ruin while remaining oddly indifferent to the riches around them. Allure is their work; wreckage is collateral. Light Against th...