Artist: Howard Pyle

Thinking about mermaids yesterday and needing a work of art to display today prompted me to Google Search mermaids. Here is a simply gorgeous painting by Howard Pyle (1835-1911). It's called The Mermaid and is on permanent display at the Delaware Art Museum.

Again, I wish I could look at this in person. I imagine the colors are even more haunting close up. I love how he depicted the foam, an important part of Hans Christian Andersen's story about the little mermaid, although I'm not convinced this is necessarily that mermaid. You can feel the poignancy of this couple's embrace, the impossibility of any lasting union between them.

Just for fun, fill in this blank:

When I look at this, I want ____.