Like the Surrealists he admired and his fellow Abstract Expressionists, Baziotes was fascinated by the power of myth. Here, his title and imagery suggest the story of the Cyclops, the one-eyed giant who devoured Odysseus’s sailors in Homer’s epic poem. In this ambitious work, Baziotes applied layer upon layer of oil paint and rubbed it into the canvas to create a shimmering, opalescent surface that evokes an underwater world inhabited by undulating biomorphic forms. Characteristically, the artist combined menacing forms with luminous colors to create a paradoxical work that is both repulsive and compelling.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:The Flesh Eaters
Artist:William Baziotes (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1912–1963 New York)
Date:1952
Medium:Oil and charcoal on canvas
Dimensions:60 × 72 1/8 in. (152.4 × 183.2 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, George A. Hearn Fund, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, and Hearn Funds, Bequest of Charles F. Iklé, and Gifts of Mrs. Carroll J. Post and Mrs. George S. Amory, by exchange, 1995
the artist, New York (1952–d. 1963); his widow, Ethel Baziotes, New York (1963–95; sold through Blum Helman Gallery, New York to MMA)
Pittsburgh. Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute. "The 1952 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting," October 16–December 14, 1952, no. 18 (lent by the artist).
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," February 5–March 21, 1965, no. 19 (lent by Mrs. William Baziotes, New York).
Cincinnati Art Museum. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," April 3–May 2, 1965.
Reading, Penn. Reading Public Museum. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," May 23–June 27, 1965.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," July 13–August 22, 1965.
Milwaukee Art Center. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," September 10–October 10, 1965.
Waltham, Mass. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," November 1–28, 1965.
Utica, N. Y. Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," December 1965.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," March–April 10, 1966.
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," June 29–July 31, 1966.
Akron Art Institute. "William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition," October 11–November 13, 1966.
New York. Marlborough Gallery. "William Baziotes: Late Work 1946–1962," February 11–March 6, 1971, no. 6.
Newport Beach, Calif. Newport Harbor Art Museum. "William Baziotes: A Retrospective Exhibition," March 24–June 4, 1978, no. 19 (lent by the Estate of William Baziotes, courtesy Marlborough Gallery, Inc., New York).
University of Texas, Austin. "William Baziotes: A Retrospective Exhibition," June 18–August 6, 1978, no. 19.
College Park. University of Maryland Art Gallery. "William Baziotes: A Retrospective Exhibition," August 24–October 7, 1978, no. 19.
Ithaca, N. Y. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University. "William Baziotes: A Retrospective Exhibition," October 25–December 10, 1978, no. 19.
Roslyn Harbor, N. Y. Nassau County Museum of Art. "The Abstract Expressionists and Their Precursors," January–March 22, 1981, no. 1 (lent courtesy of Marlborough Gallery, N.Y.C.).
New York. BlumHelman. "William Baziotes: Paintings and Works on Paper 1952–1961," March 7–31, 1984, unnumbered cat. (p. 31; as "Flesh Eaters").
New York. BlumHelman. "William Baziotes: 32 Years Later," January–March 4, 1995, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Recent Acquisitions: 1993–1995," July 28–September 24, 1995, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Surrealism: Desire Unbound," February 6–May 12, 2002, not in catalogue.
Venice. Peggy Guggenheim Collection. "William Baziotes: Paintings and Drawings 1934–1962," September 5, 2004–January 9, 2005, no. 30.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Born in 1912: A Centennial Tribute," April 24–October 14, 2012, no catalogue.
Irving H. Sandler. "Baziotes: Modern Mythologist." Art News 63 (February 1965), ill. p. 31.
Irving Sandler. The Triumph of American Painting: A History of Abstract Expressionism. New York, [1970], pl. 5–6.
Peter Schjeldahl. "William Baziotes: On the Way to Obscurity?" New York Times (February 21, 1971), ill. p. D19.
N[atalie]. E[dgar]. "Reviews and Previews: William Baziotes." Art News 70 (March 1971), p. 16, reviews Exh. New York 1971.
Barbara Cavaliere inWilliam Baziotes: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat., Newport Harbor Art Museum. Newport Beach, 1978, pp. 14, 54–55, no. 19, ill. p. 73 (color).
Mona Hadler inWilliam Baziotes: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat., Newport Harbor Art Museum. Newport Beach, 1978, p. 79.
Charles W. Millard. "Baziotes and Rothko." Hudson Review 32 (Summer 1979), p. 248.
Constance Schwartz. The Abstract Expressionists and Their Precursors. Exh. cat., Nassau County Museum of Fine Art. [Roslyn Harbor, N.Y.], 1981, p. 6, colorpl. I.
Kay Larson. "Art: Primal Dreams." New York 17 (March 26, 1984), p. 77, ill. (color).
Grace Glueck. "Art: Baziotes, a Rarely Seen Fantasist." New York Times (March 16, 1984), p. C21.
Paul Waldo Schwartz. "A Lost Generation." Art & Antiques (November 1988), ill. pp. 90–91 (color).
Nan Rosenthal in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1994–1995." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 53 (Fall 1995), p. 64, ill. (color).
Roberta Smith. "Avoiding the Hip, the Trendy, and the Political." New York Times (September 8, 1995), p. C24, ill.
Hilton Kramer. "Here's an Artist I Adore: Baziotes Emerges Intact." New York Observer (February 13, 1995), p. 21, ill.
Mario Naves. "Ambiguous Baziotes." New Criterion 13 (March 1995), p. 40.
Eric Gibson. "William Baziotes." Art News 94 (Summer 1995), ill. p. 124.
Robert Reed Cole inWilliam Baziotes: The Poetic Spirit. Exh. cat., Butler Institute of American Art. Youngstown, Ohio, 2000, unpaginated.
Michael Preble inWilliam Baziotes: Paintings and Drawings, 1934–1962. Exh. cat., Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. Milan, 2004, pp. 27, 30, 88–89, no. 30, ill. (color).
David Anfam. "William Baziotes: Venice." Burlington Magazine 147 (January 2005), p. 62, fig. 59 (color; reproduced sideways).
Fabienne Eggelhöfer inTen Americans: After Paul Klee. Exh. cat., Zentrum Paul Klee. Bern, 2017, p. 144, fig. 104 (color).
William Baziotes (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1912–1963 New York)
1947
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
