Christian Waller
Morgan le Fay
Introduced to linocuts and the romance of the Arthurian legends
by Napier Waller, Christian Yandell only made prints for a period
of about 10 years after which she devoted her time to stained
glass.
Presented as Arthur's half sister in Malory's Morte d'Arthur,
Morgan le Fay has a dual role as an adversary and a healer.
It was Morgan le Fay who gave the Excalibur to her lover Accolon to
use against Arthur and when her plot failed, stole the scabbard and
threw it into the lake. Yet Morgan le Fay is also presented
as one of the women who, having learned the art of healing, used
their skills to tend the wounded king.
First produced as a watercolour in 1910 and later as a linocut,
this could well be a self portrait with Christian as Morgan le Fay,
a woman of power who tended the wounded king - or in this case
Napier Waller who lost an arm during World War I.