Destiny by Carlos Schwabe (Interpretation and Analysis)

Destiny
Source: Wikimedia Commons

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the work of Swiss Symbolist painter Carlos Schwabe, and I’ve been grappling with its strangeness ever since. I often describe the work of certain artists as weird or unusual (always compliments in my estimation), but Schwabe’s work is downright bizarre. Just google his name and you’ll see what I mean.

While his paintings range from bloody and horrifying to Romantic and touching, all his work exhibits a fiercely original mind and an expansive imagination. Like all Symbolists, Schwabe was interested in seeking a higher truth through art. Like the Romantics before them, Symbolists turned toward an emotionally rich and psychologically complex visual lexicon. However, while the Romantics often accomplished this through painting the natural world, Symbolists pursued a more abstract approach. As the name suggests, these artists used a symbolic language to convey an internal world of thoughts and emotions.

Schwabe was particularly interested in depicting women, and he often pictured them in a variety of mythological or allegorical scenes. Destiny is one such painting. Schwabe created the painting in memory of his friend Guillaume Lekeu, a composer, who died young. Destiny depicts three women, loosely based on the three Fates of Greek mythology, who are busily engaged in spinning the threads of human destiny. As the women spin, humans—presumably the dead and dying—approach their cave in boats, drawn in by the golden thread of life. The water that the dead cross may be a reference to the river Styx, which separates death and life in Greek mythology. These people are guided by winged figures that resemble Christian angels, an interesting addition to the Classical theme of the painting.

The painting symbolizes the inevitable fate of all humans: death. Death was a major focus of Schwabe’s work, which he used to explore higher spiritual ideas. Here, we see Schwabe approaching death as a somewhat gentle entrance into another world. It is a decidedly kinder view of death than other paintings from the same period. However, the painting is primarily interesting for its rich use of mythological symbolism and creative use of allegory.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.