Sex is nice, and so is parenthood. But to give a person life is to guarantee their death. Hanneke said, “That’s so obvious, you just realized that?” Yeah, I just realized it.
[UPDATE: In the discussion of this post, Birgit suggested that the painting above is not of "mother and child" but of "child and father." For details, see the comments.]
Without death, how much great art would never have been born? Personally speaking, I prefer renewal to immortality, anyway. Palimpsest.
And some parents enjoy torturing you along the way rather than allow a swift and merciful demise.
An upbringing in the Christian faith would have prepared you, birth and nailing against the cross.
Here is a quote:
Children
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, “Speak to us of Children.”
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
the rest
“Death is the mother of beauty…/ She makes the willow shiver in the sun/For maidens who were wont to sigh and gaze/ Upon the grass…She causes boys to pile new plums and pears/ On disregarded plated. The maidens taste/ and stray impassioned in the littering leaves.”
http://www.web-books.com/classics/Poetry/Anthology/Stevens_W/Sunday.htm
“Let be be finale of seem/ The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream.”
http://users.crocker.com/~lwm/emperor.html
I seem to be in a Wallace Stevens mode.
Karl,
I don’t mean to disturb the thoughtful discussion of parenthood and death, but why are the clouds in this picture yellow?
Karl,
Good question. This painting is unfinished. It is in fact only an underpainting. That is why all the colors seem a bit odd. They are not intended to be seen like this, but with a thin layer of overpainting on them, and some green glazes in the appropriate places. That paint, obviously, was never applied. I doubt it ever will be.
I felt the picture said what I wanted to say (even though I don’t completely understand what that is, even now). I was afraid that if I went further, I would loose something essential in the picture that makes it what it is.
It is obvious that it is largely only an underpainting. Anyone that has been studying Hanneke’s posts knows this.
I like the tree lacking some limbs.
I was intrigued by the pink thing in front of the people. What final color did you plan for that?
I am intrigued by that pink thing too, because I have no idea what it is exactly. All I know is that it has to be there.
the pink think could be shielding mother and child from the grim reaper cutting off the limbs of the tree
I don’t think the Grim Reaper is into tree trimming.
Why does it have to be mother and child? Can’t it be father and child?
You mean, a really tiny father? Interesting. Or do you mean a cross-dressing father? Also interesting.
Seriously, I think that is a
brilliant interpretation
It is not easy to see in this image above, but as you can see in this detail (approximately 4x magnification)
the baby does not have a baby face (I made this picture before I had kids of my own). The baby’s face looks like an adult’s face. The proportions in the painting are not realistic (”limited in style” I think is Dee Period’s term). The unrealistic proportions create possibilities however. If the woman’s head is giant, why shouldn’t her father be miniature? This picture is not an anatomical study, after all, or a study in human geometry.
Notice the coarse, sandy quality of the blue in the woman’s shirt. This is natural azurite pigment. The blue of this mineral is more intense when the particles are of larger size. In painting, there is a trade-off between brilliance of color and ease of application.
I am now reminded of Angela Ferreira’s paintings that are a study in the development of the Self.
Oh, now it’s getting spooky…
Courage
Earlier, I actually meant why do people always (mostly?) paint a mother with a her infant, why don’t we have (more?) paintings of a father with his infant?
Well, it doesn’t so much matter what you meant as what you communicated.
Death is one more of the facets (albeit an ultimate one) that every parent makes sure is instilled in their offspring.
Religion is another aspect that parents force onto their children ‘killing off’ thoughts of any alternative forms that could blossom in the child.
I am a parent myself and for some reason, I find myself teaching Hari (my son) how to be a ‘proper’ Hindu…
Karl very interesting painting and very interesting argument.
The painting is obviously a sign of you getting broody, that time when your mind and body starts preparing for your time to be a real father…
The person holding a baby has masculine features what makes me think that you haven’t used a model so what it comes out is a projection of yourself. About the baby adult’s face is also interesting, as you weren’t a father at the time; you have painted another projection of yourself again with a tiny body.
The red tube shaped plant the woman is lining on reminds me of the insides of a woman as well after giving birth, the placenta, canals are connections with birth. Was the child just born recently?
I don’t see a parent as a killer, but more of a pain maker… isn’t the world full of suffering? Why bringing more to it?
The painting compared to other works you have shown is clearly unfinished.
Karl I didn’t know you find my paintings spooky.
Karl I didn’t know you find my paintings spooky
Angela,
In fact, I do in a way find your work spooky, but that is not what I meant above. What I meant is this: Birgit first said (or so I interpreted) that the “baby” was in fact a “father”. Then she said that The painting was a process of self discovery, like your paintings. In that moment I projected myself into the position of the small figure, the blanket turned into a shroud, held by my daughter. That was a disturbing thought. Hanneke’s father died on 9 February and the topic of death has been very much on our minds lately.
The red tube shaped plant . . . reminds me of the insides of a woman as well after giving birth, the placenta, canals are connections with birth.
Angela, very interesting thought. At the time I made the painting, I knew very little about babies (as the face shows) and even less about birth. Some time after my daughter was born I saw this painting again and this notion that you expressed rushed into my mind. “Now I understand,” was my reaction.