Sculptures, a project and “Dorian Gray”

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel by Oscar Wilde, first published in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890 and in an extended book form in 1891. The artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the young and handsome Dorian Gray. Lord Henry tells Dorian that youth is the greatest treasure; Dorian wishes that the portrait would grow old instead of him. After that the portrait starts to show each of his bad deeds. Dorian wants to marry the actress Sibyl Vane but cruelly rejects her, and Sibyl dies that night. The face in the portrait becomes cruel; Dorian hides the picture in the attic. Years pass, Dorian stays young, but his life becomes corrupt; he kills Basil. At the end he tries to destroy the portrait with a knife, and in the house he is found dead, old and ugly, while the portrait looks young and beautiful again. The novel is a warning: outer beauty cannot replace goodness.