Psyché

The Piece
Heavyweight white T-shirt with an oversized fit. Bouguereau’s Cupid and Psyche appear across the back, suspended in front of a PHAVOS™ monogram rebuilt from the original sky and clouds.

The Artwork
The design is based on L’Amour et Psyché (1899) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The large oil painting shows Cupid carrying Psyche through the air. It was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1899 and again at the Exposition Universelle of 1900.

The Story
The myth of Cupid and Psyche comes from Apuleius’ The Golden Ass. Psyche is a mortal woman whose beauty provokes the jealousy of Venus. Cupid is sent to punish her, falls in love with her instead, and after separation and a series of trials the pair are reunited. Psyche is ultimately granted immortality.

The Artist
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) was one of the most successful French Academic painters of the nineteenth century. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and winner of the Prix de Rome in 1850, he became known for highly controlled mythological and allegorical paintings centred on the human figure.

The PHAVOS™ Interpretation
Psyché takes its name directly from the figure at the centre of Bouguereau’s painting. PHAVOS™ leaves Cupid and Psyche immediately recognisable and intervenes in the space around them: the original sky and clouds are rebuilt into the PHAVOS™ monogram, giving the composition a new structure while keeping the mythology intact.

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