Memento Mori
October 25, 2016
Nothing spookier than thinking about the inevitability of death! In the second episode of the Halloween season, the Babes examine reminders of death present in a wide range of art from Dutch vanitas symbolism, to the sugar skulls of Dia de los Muertos, to the formaldehyde-soaked works of Damien Hirst. Life is short, art is long my friends.
Sources
Ades, Dawn. Art in Latin America: The Modern Era. New Haven, Yale University Press. 1989.
Catlin, Stanton. Art of Latin America Since Independence. New Haven, Yale University Press. 1966.
Gallagher, Ann ed. Damien Hirst. London, Tate Publishing. 2012.
Hirst, Damien and Gordon Burn. On the Way to Work. New York, Universe Publishing. 2001.
Rothenstein, Julian. Posada: Messenger of Mortality. NY, Moyer Ltd. 1989.
"The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity". Journal of American Folklore 442 (1998): 359–80.
Links
https://www.nga.gov/kids/DTP6stillife.pdf
http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/memento-mori
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.41645.html