Fredrik Wretman: Miner Orfeus 2012

The story of Orpheus in the underworld is one of the most frequently retold myths from ancient Greece and has inspired paintings, literature, opera, ballet, theater, film, and video games.

In the myth, Orpheus loses his wife Eurydice after she is bitten by a snake. Overcome with grief, he descends into the underworld in an attempt to bring her back. Moved by Orpheus’s music, Hades agrees to let Eurydice return to the world of the living on one condition: Orpheus must walk ahead of her and not turn around before they reach daylight. Just before leaving the underworld, however, Orpheus looks back—and Eurydice disappears forever.

In Fredrik Wretman’s interpretation, Orpheus does not carry a lyre but instead wears a miner’s helmet with a lamp, suggesting a return from the underworld. Balancing on a chair and reaching upward, the figure appears suspended between ascent and uncertainty. Eurydice is absent.

The myth of Orpheus has inspired countless interpretations across philosophy, literature, and art. Wretman’s work invites reflection on themes such as grief, trust, longing, and the consequences of looking back.

Fredrik Wretman (born 1958 in Bromma, Stockholm) studied at Gerlesborg School of Fine Art, ABF:s konstskola, and the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm between 1980 and 1985.

Throughout his career, Wretman has moved between monumental public sculptures and smaller, more intimate works such as Miner Orfeus. Although his materials and techniques vary, a poetic sensibility remains central to his artistic practice.

His large-scale public works can be found across Sweden, including Bodhi in the river Viskan in Borås, Body and Soul outside Södersjukhuset in Stockholm, Up, Up and Away at Östermalm Market Hall, and the singing teak bench in Monica Zetterlund Park in Stockholm.