(Illustration for Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám) The Sorry Scheme
1883-1884
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase and gift from Elizabeth W. Henderson in memory of her husband Francis Tracy Henderson
Accession Number
1978.108.52
Tags
Art Historical Context
Elihu Vedder’s 1883–1884 drawing “The Sorry Scheme” forms part of his celebrated series of illustrations for Edward FitzGerald’s translation of *The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám*. Created at the height of the poem’s Victorian popularity,der’s images brought visual depth to the Persian verses’ meditations on fate, transience, and human striving. Working in a Symbolist vein, the American artist blended precise draftsmanship with allegorical figures, allowing abstract ideas to take tangible form on the page. The drawing’s full-length figure—accompanied by an angel and a bird—evokes the poem’s contem...
About the Artist
Elihu Vedder · 1836–1923
Elihu Vedder was born on February 26, 1836, in New York City to Dr. Elihu Vedder Sr., a dentist, and his cousin Elizabeth Vedder. As a young boy, his family relocated to Cuba for his father's ventures, an experience that sparked his artistic aspirations amid the Caribbean landscapes. He later divided his time between a boarding school and his maternal grandfather Alexander Vedder's home in Schenec...