We don’t usually think of art in terms of death. Quite the opposite, art has been equated with immortality. But that thought is tied to fame, which can be complicated and hollow. In addition, few people are truly famous: the number of great artists is minuscule compared to the enormous number of people who attempt to make art.
Artworks themselves aren’t immortal. Masterpieces require conservation, fragile pieces are broken, and most ancient art consists of archaeological recoveries, which emphasizes how much has been lost in wars, looting, natural disasters, and careless destruction.
In parallel, I’ve lost many people. Grief has been crushing. Once, when I was young, life seemed to be open sky and I had magnificent wings. Now, my skies are cloudy, and the burdens I carry have bent my back. Pain is with me every day.
I sensed death in all the museums I visited. Jesus on the cross is about death. Granted, resurrection is part of the story and has become a matter of faith for millions of people. It’s such a focus that it’s carried in a tabernacle (30.0). Healing is an issue. House of Hope (1996–97) by Montien Boonma, is made with medicinal herbs. The work is both fragrant and visual. (Boonma’s wife died of cancer. He has passed away too, and his assistants continue his work—continuing his devotion and remembrance.)
Shrines and objects of devotion hold space and the hope that we can hold on to fleeting spirits. Imagine opening the triptych, The Crucifixion with Saints and a Donor, (ca. 1520). Opening it for private worship parallels opening one’s heart.
Pagoda Base with Four Buddhas (ca. 560–75; 30.3) is derived from the Buddhist Stupa ( a stupa was originally a burial mound containing a relic of the Buddha). Stupa, (mid-15th century; 30.3) resembles the original stupa form. Funerary Sedan Chair (19th century; 30.4) was used to carry the spirit tablet of the deceased during a funeral. Shrine Cabinet in the Shape of a Mountain Monk’s Backpack (1911; 30.4) appropriates an object of daily use and raises it to the level of sacredness.
It’s somber to look at art created for the dead. It’s poignant to think of artists not as heroic creators but as fragile people with aspirations, hopes, and ambitions. Many artists were affected by old age. Van Gogh: mental illness. Monet: cataracts and partial blindness. Matisse: abdominal obstruction, cancerous tumor in his colon, necrotizing wound, insomnia, and respiratory disease. These artists strove to create despite their challenges. They supported the standard of all creatives: work until you cannot. Matisse continued making art with cutouts and the help of assistants after he could no longer paint (30.5).
We don’t want to lose our dead loved ones. We don’t want the dead to forget the living. We don’t want our devotion to vanish. That’s why so many of us place our feelings in art.
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Tabernacle of Cherves. ca. 1220–1230. Limoges, France. French. Copper (plaques): engraved, scraped, stippled, and gilt; (appliqués): repoussé, chased, engraved, scraped, and gilt; champlevé enamel: medium blue, turquoise, medium green, yellow, red, and white, modern wood mount. Closed: 33 × 19 3/4 × 10 3/4 in., 90 lb. (83.8 × 50.2 × 27.3 cm, 40.8 kg). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464604
House of Hope. Montien Boonma. 1996–97. Herbs, spices, natural binders, cotton string, painted wood, and steel. 13′ 1 1/2″ x 9′ 10 1/8″ x 19′ 8 1/4″ (400 x 300 x 600 cm). MoMA.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/444857
The Crucifixion with Saints and a Donor. Joos van Cleve (Netherlandish, Cleve ca. 1485–1540/41 Antwerp) and a collaborator. ca. 1520. Oil on wood. Shaped top: central panel, painted surface 38 3/4 x 29 1/4 in. (98.4 x 74.3 cm); each wing, painted surface 39 3/4 x 12 7/8 in. (101 x 32.7 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436792
Pagoda base with four Buddhas. Northern Qi dynasty (550–577). ca. 560–75. China.
Limestone with traces of pigment. H. 95 in. (241.3 cm); W. (one face) 67 1/2 in. (171.5 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42705
Stupa. mid-15th century. Tibet. Brass. H. 20 in. (50.8 cm); W. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm); Diam. 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/697341
Funerary Sedan Chair, 19th century. Wood, metal, paper, 34 1/2 x 20 1/2 x 25 1/4 in. (87.6 x 52.1 x 64.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 85.224. Brooklyn Museum.
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/112945
Shrine Cabinet in the shape of a Mountain Monk’s Backpack (Oi). Iizuka Hōsai II (Japanese, 1872–1934). Meiji period (1868–1912). 1911. Japan. Timber bamboo and dwarf bamboo, lacquer. H. 33 1/16 in. (84 cm); W. 22 13/16 in. (58 cm); D. 20 1/2 in. (52 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/823687
The Swimming Pool, Maquette for ceramic (realized 1999 and 2005). Nice-Cimiez, Hôtel Régina, late summer 1952. Henri Matisse. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, on painted paper. 73″ x 53′ 11″ (185.4 x 1643.3 cm). Installed as nine panels in two parts on
burlap-covered walls 11′ 4″ (345.4 cm) high. Frieze installed at a height of 5′ 5″ (165 cm). MoMA.