The artwork is directly inspired by Victor Hugo’s 1827 poem La Douleur du Pacha (The Pasha’s Grief). The poem explores the unexpected grief of a powerful and ruthless warlord, questioning why he could possibly be weeping. It rules out the obvious explanations—defeat in battle or even the haunting of ghosts—before revealing the simple and poignant truth: his beloved tiger has died.

Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Grief of the Pasha ,1885

Tatsuro Kiuchi, The Woman in a Black Dress , 1925

Peter Paul Rubens , Ganymede receives the bowl from Hebe , 1912

Franz von Stuck, The Kiss of the Sphinx, 1895

Richard Müller, Skeleton in the Grass, 1898

Volodymyr Tsisaryk, Sylph Tina, 2020

Glen Martin Taylor, Safe in Here, 2025

Malcolm T. Liepke , Red Rocker, 2014

we will taste the islands and the sea by Bukowski

I know that some night
in some bedroom
soon
my fingers will
rift
through
soft clean
hair

songs such as no radio
plays

all sadness, grinning
into flow.

Félicien Rops, The Idol, 1882

Wilhelm Freddie, Triumphs and Enigmas of Joy, 1935

Félicien Rops, The Sacrifice, 1882

Heinrich Lossow , Boreas and Orithya , 1880

“No one can be called happy before death.”

Evert Collier , Vanitas Still Life with a Crowned Skull , 1689

Marjorie Miller , Queen of the Night, 1931

Kay Nielsen, Sir Olaf and the Underworld, 1913

George Barbier, The Songs of Bilitis, 1922

Ron Schwerin, The Fan / The Breeze, 1988

The gun, a W. & C. Scott & Son Monte Carlo B