Goblin Market : Pears

by Leanne Shapton

Watercolor on paper with deckled edge
Signed and numbered
Printed in New York

6in x 8in print

The series of nine archival pigment prints with hand-torn deckled edges collect fruit peels, grapes, peaches, pomegranates, pears and apples. Inspired by the poem by Christina Rossetti of the same name, the series renders the richness and sensuality of the fruits with an avid vibrancy. The poem tells a story of two girls, Laura and Lizzie, who are lured by goblin merchants with fruit. Particularly relevant to the current state of our country, we see the girls stand up to coercion, joined in sisterhood. Shapton painted the fruits with the goblins and girls in mind. Exuding confidence, the compositions embody the allegory of Rossetti's poem.

Leanne Shapton, b. 1973, is a Canadian author, artist and publisher based in New York City. She is the co-founder, with photographer Jason Fulford, of J&L Books, an internationally-distributed not-for-profit imprint specializing in art and photography books. Shapton's Swimming Studies won the 2012 National Book Critic's Circle Award for autobiography, and was long listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012. Her works have also appeared in the The New York Times and The New Yorker. Her works have appeared in diverse newspapers and magazines such as the The New York Times, The Paris Review and The New Yorker. Shapton was part of the 2018 Man Booker Prize jury.