Papageno

 
Size: 26" x 25"
 
The first piece in what became the "Magic Flute" series was "Papageno," the bird catcher. He is the most colorful character of the tale, his magic residing in his sentimental comedy, his appealing good nature, his capacity for celebration. So I put him in the middle of a flowered ground, where, reaching out to all kinds of cheerful and loving imaginary creatures with his extravagant bird wings, he dreams of his beloved Papagena. All by himself, Papageno rescues the opera from becoming a kind of Masonic allegory (the delightful music helps, too!) and it was he who led me, singing and dancing, into the rest of the tapestries in this set. —P.C.