What Is Warhol's Fascination With Death

“You try and avoid [death], but it’s such a big thing that you can’t. That’s the frightening thing isn’t it?” Damien Hirst says regarding his sculpture, ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’ (Hirst, 2011). Often well known for his thought-provoking and rather visceral artworks, ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’ mirrors the theory of truth explored in Darren Hudson Hick’s Introducing Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art.

Death. The topic no one likes to discuss despite it being an inevitable part of life since humans came into existence. Simply thinking about the phrase, “I am going to die,” causes most people to become extremely uncomfortable, evoking unwanted emotions such as dread and fear. Humans will do anything to distract themselves from this depressing reality. Whether it’s using drugs or going out with friends, people frequently engage in activities that push darker thoughts to the back of their minds to be dealt with at a later time. Hanging in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), the painting Leyster, The Last Drop (Fig. 1) captures the complexities of coming to terms with one’s own mortality. Judith Leyster’s use of lighting, color, and symbols in the piece come together to express the struggle people go through to give their lives meaning in the context of eternity, making observers confront the temporal limits of their humanity right on the spot.

Framed in stainless steel and resting at eye level, the blues and blacks of the painting feel as cold as the surgical metal surrounding it. The painting depicts a woman curled up on a bed grasping her thigh. She presses her forehead down on the bed and locks her left arm straight. A steel pole protrudes below a ruffled white sheet, and a black plastic bucket and chair rest on the floor beside the bed. The woman depicted is not safely under a blanket, but withers on top of a blue sheet with a bucket as her only

Lastly, after much observation, I think this painting has close relations with Religion and Death. The Crucifix and the Skull known as symbol of death suggests how death is inevitable for human beings. It indicates the hidden yet truthful realization of human mortality. Whilst the ambassadors stand there proudly amid their tools of knowledge, death is constantly there. No matter how advance science is, death is inevitable.

This is a representation of how the political and religious systems in the Late Medieval Ages treated women as the subordinates of men. It is the woman who attempts to bribe the skeletons with a bowl of coins to try to cheat out of death. None of the other male figures attempt to cheat death. This is significantly similar to the Christian biblical story of Adam and Eve and how it was Eve’s fault for eating the apple and causing orignal sin. The Christian idea and stereotype of women trying to cheat the system and sinning has still be translated through this painting. However, it is clear that the attempts to cheat death are futile and that death has no biases or judgements.

Almost every human being is afraid of the idea of death and is shown clearly in the painting. The hooded mask man or creature could possibly be a representation of death because of the colors in the painting and the reaction of the group of men. Not only is there a portrayal of death, but there is possibly a portray of man. It is shown in the leader of the group of men, who is dressed different than the rest of the others. He is the first one to scatter since he is afraid of death. Contrary to popular belief, the leader is suppose to be the one who fights off all evil but is doing the exact opposite in the painting. He has trampled over his men in order to save himself. I find myself thinking of death and what a terrifying idea it is to think that no matter how fast or far we try to run away from the incident, death is inevitable. The artists uses dark colors to represent a dark time in life. The scratched up lines can possibly represent that nothing is perfect, not even drawing straight lines or coloring in the lines. I appreciate the artists honestly but dislike how the painting leads me to think about death and responding to the actions of the

Upon arriving at the protagonist's destination the artist would show the city as some form of a Utopian society where everyone is happy and not suffering. In this panel instead of showing the negatives of someone's past like the main story and the substories, he shows the beauty of the city. Just like Journey during the first stages of the game everything seems flat and horizontal for example, Molly Bang would say that she describes this panel in The Arrival as peaceful. Also the color scheme used in this panel seems really light which symbolizes purity and greatness, which is why the man moved there to become at peace with himself to work to support his family. As for lines there are a lot of vertical lines like the birds on the panel who

A death which was sudden was shamed and was often interpreted as the “wrath of God”[2]. Death is depicted in its traditional form as a skeleton covered by a shroud. In his hand he carries an arrow ready to strike. Furthermore, the armoury in the foreground symbolises the fragility of the human condition in the face of death. Armour is no longer of use; you could not fight death, you had to accept it. Looking closely at the painting, we observe the inner battle between religion and possession. The miser while looking directly at Death reaches for a bag of gold which is being used by a demon to tempt him away from salvation. “Infernal imps invade the dying man’s room taking his possessions; even those hidden under the bed and in his money box”[3]. Next to him, an angel is desperately trying to make the man turn his head to the figure of Christ in the window. A ray of light from Christ symbolises the miser’s possible salvation if he turns away from the materialistic reality. The dull colour scheme is interrupted by the old man stood at the foot of the bed. His green drapes a welcome contrast to the composition breaking up the narrative. With a key and rosary beads hanging around his waist, does this depict continuous narrative? Has the angel succeeded in persuading the miser to take salvation with God? We can assume yes. “During the Medieval and Renaissance period people

Death has captured the mind very early on and since then it has driven us to create some of the most powerful images in the world. In this essay I am going to discuss why art often symbolizes death and some of the complex ways in which art represents death.

Each canvas has the repeated image of a human skull sitting on a table. The skull is seen from a standing point of view. The photograph which the print is made from was taken by one of Warhol’s assistants, Ronnie Cutrone. Cutrone positioned the skull on a trestle table. He moved around to change the lighting so that it cast a plethora of shadows.

Last, when it comes to paintings, Frida Kahlo was a legend in her own time. On a constant basis, her art demonstrated how expressionism can be based on life scenarios (Wood, 1998). Kahlo was well known for her self-portraits displaying her uni-brow and an imperious expression. Her art was personal and every piece was an attempt to let the viewer know that art is not always based on world events, but sometimes personal event too. In 1943, Frida Kahlo painted Thinking About Death. With a vegetation background and another domineering facial expression, Kahlo painted a skull and cross bones across her forehead. Her attempt was to portray her mental state based on her preoccupation with morality and events that were going on in her life. These events included her diagnosis of polio, her near fatal bus accident leaving her unable to conceive a child, and her miserable relationship with artist Diego Rivera. Before this piece though, another death portrayal was set forth in Kahlos piece “A Few Small Snips”; created

The Warhol contains more than just this enigmatic 20th century icon’s masterpieces. There are also exhibits devoting to making short films, plus lectures and a section devoted to Warhol’s life within the LGBTQ community.

Shortly after the paintings of Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962), He began his work on a large sequence of movie star portraits. It started after Marilyn Monroe’s suicide in 1962, after which Warhol created several portraits of the movie star. Some weeks later he created his silk screen-print Suicide (1962) of Marilyn. An interesting event happened in 1964 when ‘an amphetamine rapture group’ in 1964 becomes regulars at one of Warhol’s exhibitions a woman named Dorothy Podber brought a gun into “The Factory” and fired a shot through a stack of his Marilyn portraits and after this Warhol re names these as Shot Marilyn (1964). The Factory was actually a famous artist studio where young artists came to produce their work.

Ultimately, Baudelaire uses the rotting body to show the reality of death. One answer to Baudelaire’s fascination to the carrion is seeing Death as unprejudiced. Baudelaire personalizes death to his girlfriend to state

Loyal is to be maintain in the district and public relations to the school. Ms. Lee upholds the following instructions and standards set forth by the Administrations and the state’s Department of Education requirements. And reflects those instructions and policies have never been compromise during her twenty years career in the Educational field. References and witness have maintains she has complied in every avenue. A written response from Ms. Lee was added to the Employee file.