How artists cope with death

5 art pieces on death.

As I write this up for you all, I am in the process of painting a door. The prompt for the project was a single word, just five letters, whose weight is incredibly immense. Death. My death door is still in the works, but I promise to either write another post about it, or to update this one.

Death looms over us like a storm cloud that cannot be chased away. We can choose to ignore it, but that would be foolish. After all, it’s just a matter of time before the wind whisks us away.

Below are five of my favourite artworks that depict death, and topics surrounding. My head is pounding as I write this, both because of my extreme sensitivity and emotional personality and because these artworks are so incredibly powerful…. OHMIGOSH I LOVE ART (send help because that’s a parents and bank account’s worst nightmare).

Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) (1954) Salvador Dalí, Surrealism

Salvador Dali was born in Spain in 1904. At seventeen, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. He is one of the most famous Surrealist artists of the 20th century and is known for being provocative and eccentric. Dalí’s oil painting, Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), is heavily inspired by his theory of nuclear mysticism, which he introduced in his 1951 essay Mystical Manifesto. This philosophy combines Catholicism, mathematics, science, and Catalan culture. In the painting, we see Jesus levitating before a geometric crucifix. Unlike many other depictions of Christ, however, he does not look to be in pain or tortured. Dalí’s relationship with religion and spirituality was complex. He once said "I believe in God but I have no faith. Mathematics and science have indisputably proved that God must exist, but I don't believe it." 

The Menaced Assassin (1927) René Magritte, Surrealism

René Magritte was born in Belgium in 1898. When he was only 14, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in a river. Supposedly, when his mother’s corpse was found, her dress was covering her face. This event deeply affected him, and has a pervasive impact on many of his paintings (if you look closely, there is a cloth around the dead woman’s neck in this painting). Magritte studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts, and is a famous 20th century surrealist artist. In The Menaced Assassin, we see a blood-smeared corpse on a bed, and an assassin standing close by. There are also two men waiting to catch the assassin, and three witnesses. It is a very comedic and dramatic depiction of death, as if something you would see in an old crime fiction tv show.

Isle of the Dead: "Basel" version (1880) Arnold Böcklin, Symbolism

Arnold Böcklin was born in Switzerland in 1827. He studied at the Düsseldorf academy, an academy of fine arts in Germany. His life was riddled with death. His first fiancée died young, then he had fourteen children with his second wife. Five of his children died in childhood and another three died before he did. Between 1880 to 1901, Böcklin created five versions of the symbolist painting Isle of the Dead, which is partly inspired by the English Cemetery in Florence, where his baby daughter Maria was buried. The painting depicts a desolate island with burial chambers. There is a small row boat approaching the island, with a white figure standing by a coffin, and a rower in the back of the boat. The painting was extremely influential. In fact,  Adolf Hitler acquired the third version, Sigmund Freud kept a reproduction in his office, and Vladimir Lenin had a reproduction above his bed. In the third version of the painting, Böcklin painted his own initials onto one of the burial chambers.

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist (1515) Bernardino Luini, High Renaissance

Bernardino Luini was born in Italy in 1480. He was a High Renaissance artist who worked with Leonardo da Vinci. The vast majority of his artworks are depictions of Biblical scenes. This painting shows Salome, stepdaughter of King Herod, holding the head of Saint John the Baptist. She had requested his head because Saint John the Baptist had criticized her mother’s marriage. Luini painted several versions of Salome with the head of the Baptist. In each one, Saint John the Baptist’s face looks serene and peaceful.

Guernica (1937) Pablo Picasso, Cubism

Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881. He was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer. He is known as one of the founders of the Cubist movement. In 1895, his sister Conchita, who was just seven, died of illness. This event had a big impact on Picasso’s life. Over the course of his life his art style changed significantly and is classified in periods, such as the Blue Period, the Rose Period, the African-influenced Period, Analytic Cubism, and Synthetic Cubism. A lot of Picasso’s art is inspired by his political affiliations with the French Communist Party.  Guernica is a powerful anti-war painting, and was painted in response to the bombing of Guernica, Spain, in April 1937. The town was bombed by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, following orders of the Spanish Nationalists. Guernica was shown in exhibits all around the world, raising funds for Spanish war relief. Just looking at Guernica makes my head spin. The pure anguish and pain depicted by the woman on the left holding her dead child is haunting. In light of the current state of the world, it is evident that this artwork is still relevant, and mass death of innocent people at the hands of war is one of the most heartbreaking ways to die. It makes me wonder, how do you mourn thousands of innocent civilians you never knew when they die at the hand of the state?

Deep breaths everyone, we’ll make it through. Time to go paint my death door, bye!