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A 3IiiARCH TO\'JARD CREATING CmUSTlJUJ ICm~O(}RAPH{
THROUGH ELEr·'iEfITS OF nESIG!'~ AIm SYMBOLISM
A Thesis
Presented to
The School of Graduate Studies
Drake University
In Partial FUlfillment
of the Requ1renants for the Degree
Maeter of Pine Arts
by
Ronald L. Almquist
AUfwe t 1972
A SEARCH TOWARD CREATING CHRISTIAN ICONOGRAPHY
THROUGH ELEMENTS OF DESIGN AND SYMBOLISM
by
Ronald L. Almquist
Approved by Committee:
Cha.irman
School of
raduata
tudias
TABLg OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION.
•
1
•
•
2
VAN GOGH PHILOSOPHY OF ART AND LIFE
•
•
:5
VAN GOGH SYMBOLISM.
•
II. VINCENT VAN
IMAGl~RY
III.
IV.
v.
VI.
S~1BOLISM
•
•
VIII.
•
GOGH-.BRE~~
•
•
•
•
•
• • • •
•
FROM TRADITIONAL
•
•
OF THE AUTHOR
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
12
•
29
•
33
ICONOGRAPHIC SY1J!BOLS FOR A BIBLICAL
EXPRESSION •
•
VII.
•
•
•
•
DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE.
•
CONCLUSION
i3IBLIOGRAPHY
•
•
•
•
•
•
..
. .
•
37
74
•
•
•
•
•
•
76
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE
1.
PAGE
"'l'ha Resurrection of LazaI'us" by Vincent
Van Gogh"
2.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
"
19
•
•
20
.
25
•
26
•
39
Medium: oharcoal, ooute crayon
Sise: 12" x 24.".
•
•
..
40
"
liThe Resurraction of' Lazarus II by Rembrandt
van Rijn
"."......
3.
"Willow" by Vinoent Van Gogh.
•
•
•
4.
"Cypres ses If by Vinoent Ven Gogh •
•
•
5.
Poem, "Darkness, Light, Death and Life,u by
Margaret Mae Armagost
•
"
"
•
•
•
6. Drawing NO.1.
and ink.
7. Drawing No.2.
and ink.
8.
9.
q,.
,A.
'OJ
Drawing No.4.
. . . .
0
•
Medium:
charcoal, conte crayon
24" x IB. It . . . . . .
45
Drawing No.5. Medium: charcoal, oonte orayon
")I •. t ! .....
" 1. R
.• fl •.
'lnotI J$ .....uk. . S'1·
~ .. ~e •
<U.+
_
••••
46
Size:
0
11.
Drawing
~d
ink.
• 6.
Medium:
51:?:e:
lS ft x
cbarooal. conte crayon
24. 11 •
..
•
..
..
..
..
12. Drawing No.7. Medium: chercoal, conte or'ayon
and ink. Size: 24" x IB . " . .
• •
13.
1. F'-,
.
.
16.
1+1
Drawing No.3. Medium: charcoal, oonte crayon
. ~ .lD.{.
4
I
IP-.J tf .... 24. 11 •
ano
v_ z""o,
and ink.
10.
Medium: charcoal, conte crayon
Size: 18 u x 24. ft •
•
•
•
..
•
..
Drawing No.8.
Medium:
cbarcoal,
cDnt~
crayon
49
.
50
Drawing Ho, 9. Medium: charcoal, conte orayon
an din l{ • S i :'j e : 2!.i It x 1 H• It ..
•
•
51
I
anuA 1nK.
Dr ':1winl'ct
~md ink ..
uQ
i
<7
...• "".
u'Gl
'0
• 10.
Size:
Drawing No. 11.
and ink.
Size:
2/1'-i' II x 1·. B•• l! •
dlum:
23?~!l
Medium:
1 f1" x
•
•
c!'Ftrcoal, contei
x 113 .. H
•
0
•
•
oharcoal, conte crayon
....1
<:::1+ •
If
0
52
53
----------------iv
17.
Drawin~ No. 12.
and ink.
M~dium:
Size 18l! x
18. Drawing No .. 13.
and ink.
19. Drawing No. 14.
and ink.
20.
:t1ediutlU
IBn
Sizet
Size:
charcoal,
24. tl
X
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
..
•
r{ediumr charcoal; oonte oraron
18 n x 24.'1.
•
Drawing No. 15. Mediumt chl.lreoa1, conte crayon
and ink. Bize: 14't x 22." .. • .. •
2).
•
51
.
61
..
62
•
6)
•
64
Paintln~ No.1.
emulsion.
22.
Medium: acrylic polymer
Size ~ 28 n x 42." ..
.. ..
P~inting
No.2. Medium: Q.crvlio polymer
emulsion. 8izee 28" x 36."'...
•
Painting ~ro.. .3..
emulsion.
aor~lic polymer
M€ldiurrn
Sizer
..
36- x 42..
•
•
Title: "HeslJrrcaction l.u ~·1edium: painted wood
oonstruction. Size: 28" x 51~.n Reightl
22." .
••
•
.•
.
.
26.
54
cbarcoal, conte orayon
24. If
•
21.
•
Detail from Figure 25, "Resurrection 1."
27. Title'
"
Burraction 2."
oon8tr~otion.
)6 ..
H
SiBS:
47"
Medium:
x 22. ft
. . . .
II
70
*
71
p13.1ntad t400d
Heigbt:
••
•
72
•
73
---------------CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Christian art baa been oustomarily defined as depic­
tion of religious subjects and scenes derived fram Biblical
sto~y.
As a .raula, emphasis is plaoed cn the portrayal of'
Biblieal charaoters appropriate to places of worship that
serve in
Ii
oonvention!11 maImer the interests of' the church.
Suoh ioonography causes representation to become repeti­
tive.
Hepetition oaw:aes mucb of tbe symbolio content to
10S8 th~ vi tali ty of i t9 m€JiI:H!!age
weak and dead.
eventually ~ and 1. t becomes
Beoause of this, there is justification for
creating. new Christian iconography.
i~
Such
tbe object
of' this tbesis.
The average mind, inoluding that
Ii
~f
the artist, is
P!lwn shop of reueed, old and t-lOrn out Gbristiafl images:
of nlghtgowned figures in Isntiroental poses, full of
expretlsive piSf!:turss and exaSH1cerated sffiotiot"H! of implicit
anguish and eorrow.
The artistic mind,
too~
turns away in
an attitudo of' nonaeoept.ance from these 9srsistent a.sElocia­
tion~;
a.nd as a reeult the great majority of artists today
simply 00 not oontemplate working on
Chri~ti~n
subJects or
tbemeHI.
The writers of the
pBrBon~l
ima~B
of
th~
Christ
spals did not try to present a
or the artist to stereotype
2
in paint.
They tell notbing of His personal features, His
voice or bow He dreseed.
This laok of interest 1n the
physical features of Jesus is not surprising when one
realiz~s
that the evangelists were not cODcer-ned primarily
in writing His biograph! but were vitally concerned with
proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.
\<Jbether Ha
tall or short, dark or fair was irrelevant
'W'1S
to their purposes.
Yet art bas always been intimately bound up witb the
presentation of Chrlet in visual terms--eitber in drawing,
painting, sculpture, stained gla8B. mosaics, or
t~peEtry.
'rhe gub jec t of these t10rks of art ti1as sf thar the person of
Cbrist seen in one of the inoidents from Hie recorded life,
~vent
or some othsr 13iblical
from the Old or l'Yew Testaments.
For such to be the only acoeptable art of tbe church is to
lim! t Chri s tian1 ty i tee If to a time and place.
is not limited to
~y
bistorical time or place.
evancy of its rnessn3.C;6 is jt:18t as
in the past.
V~cn ~n ~rti8t
f1 !'Sure on a cruci fix, a 3t.
impOl"'t',U1t
Chris ti IL"11 ty
The rel­
tQd'aY as it was
limits himself to a Cb~ist<Tohn
tile Bilptis t, or a T'ofadonna
9..Yid Child, he :trmnediately limite Chrlstiwity to an
'i880e1'1­
tion ,,,tth events '1nd people t:md be neglects the possibility
of
i~a~ery
tho very
that
ha~rt
eMl
be
of God's
~s8ociated
mese~ge
to
with
Ghrlgt'~
m~nklnd.
teachings-­
vnrcgNT VAN GOGH-­
BREA~ ~ROM
Since time
beg~,
TRADITIONAL IMAGERY
the artist haa always been capable
of perceiving and setting forth relationships of whicb most
men are oblivious.
His epecial act bas been the making of
forms which a.dequately express and carry personal meaning
common to himself and others.
familiar forms of art, whicb
When the traditional and
ha~e
been socially shaped
~~d
have persisted, no longer meet with the changing experienoes
of the present mDment, a tension is consciously felt within
the mind of the artist.
From this tension he
create~
a
synthesis; be must make new forme for content, because old
ones eomehow Beem inadequate for
Van Gogh rejected any
tod~y.
~isual
portrayal of Christ
which wae and is the natural oulmination for all traditional
Cbrietian painting.
p~inting
a likeneas of Christ, end twice he destroyed a study
whioh he had begun.
fOf'
Witb full intent he refrained from
the
j;igur8, at;!
Ria refusal did not spring from contempt
rsan of Christ, for be saw in Him
Ii
Han
incomparable
g'I'€Hlter artist then all other £l,rtists . • • •
Hs mads neither statues n2r pictures, but wDrked in living
4
flash, making living men immortals. lt1
he could not
cre~te ~
Van Gogh felt that
true picture of Christ, which to even
a small degree could radiate some of His humble majesty and
refleot some of the hope9 for the future whieb, ot necessity,
are bound up with the idea of Christ.
tife to Vinoent held
so muoh beauty, while at the same time @o much loneliness,
pain and SUffering, that he wae forced to divorce himself
frJm the world of traditional religious images.
Instead,
be Bought to depict the teacbings of Cbrist through his own
personal ferms and impressionistic colors.
A desire to
teacb and comfort sparked bis quest to oreate the o@ginnings
of
the
Ii fl"e~h,
I'll
new symbolio ieonography.
till 1::y of
to creato
~
1"'0 vi ving
He did not undertake
010 and obsolete s ymbole, but began
new kind of Christian symbolism, based on the
experiencee and needs of his
f rom the Hore Id
lit"
LElO
b 1m.
o~m
lifa and time and taken
---------VAN GOGH PHILOSOPHY OF
ART AND LIFE
Vincent's caraeP as an artist began in the summer
of 18130.
iner,
01113
At that time be was 11 vlng in th~ house of
Ch~r18s
Dacrueq at Cueemee, Belgium.
He va.
It
~ivan
11 ttla room wbich he set up as bis first is'tud10.
lunging and
A
desire to be of soma good to those around
!l
bimand find a
p~rpos~
h ad found hi iii calling J
for living, made him write When he
II
And in a pi CtUl"'6 I want to eay
something comforting, as comforting as music is comfort­
ing. nl
There he began his firs t original drawings of
miners going to work in the early mornings.
Vincent'S! desire to serve and comfort bum"tnlty be!!an
two years e&r1181', at tbe llge of twemty-:riv6, t'31181'1 he was
commissioned as a lay preacher to tbe Borinage, a mining
di9trict irl Belgium.
Evan@eliaal Church.
He was commissioned by the
At the
Borlna~8
Vinoent
so~~ht
bring encouI"!lgemerlt and cheer into the Ii vea of the
by
preqchln~
the
Ipsl.
19iUtrl
to
miner~
In a letter to hiB brother Thea,
he referred to the miners ae be
IVincent VI~n Gor:-h, 'Pbs Complete LettEll1"s of Vincent
Van G:pgh, ed. V. W. Van Gogh {GrAonwioh, ~onneDtiDut:
Hew "{or-k (}raphio Society, 195f~), I, xxx.
6
eorrowt'ul, who needed "the Master who can comfort and
strengthen
becau~e
sorrow~
He is the great Man of
who
knows our i11s."1
All the
mi~ery
and poverty of the
miner~'
life
beeame known to Vincent as he took part in the minere t
etruqgle to better thoir existence, devoting himself 6spe­
cially to the care of the sick end tho sounded.
Literally
.very~
practicing the teachings of Christ, Vincent gave away
thing, to help those in need--his money, clothaa and even
his bed.
He slept on the floor end wore the same kind of
clothing &s the minaret
rough jute saoke.
When the church
a!.l thori ti es taLma him in this eonai tlon, they oonsider-ad
him unfit to represent them and ended his employment.
So
mucb zeal in being n,'lfriend to the poo.t' like .Tesue was, 112
hrl.o completely g'otten out of b"und.
unbeooming ':ie
~~
Sucb oon6uct was
representative of the church; his actione
"sere totally l.u'lauthorizad gnu beneath the dignity
his
position as a paetor.
Now in July of 1879 Vincent Mal without. job.
ensuing daye to come were the moet bitter of bis life.
1
, I, 184, (L127).
The
---------------\
7
two very
9
trlk1ngly 'beatltiful letters to Theo that revealed
ttle inner personal needs of all men" whioh later as an
artist, he began to 5xprems througb bie own symbolism.
He
wrote the first letter from Wasmes, disclosing bis extpeme
loneliness in maklng t<nown to his brother bow mucb a recent
visit from him nleant.
1:!ben I saw you. again r,md walked wi tib you, I had the
same feeling which I used to have raot'e tban I do nO~I-­
as if life was s ometbing r~ood and preQi DUS W'hich one
must value; and 1 f'elt more cheerful MId a11\1'& than I
have for a long time, because gradually lite has become
less preoious, much more tmimpo.t"tant and indifferent to
me--at least, it seemed so. When one lives with otbe~~
and is united by ,9. feeling of atfect:t on, ona is al",,~re
of a f'eason tor liVing and pepoeiv€i11l thqt one is not
qui ta worthless and superfluous" but perbaps good for
something • • • like everyone else, I feel the need of
family and friendship, of affeotion, of family inter­
cours €I; I am not made of B tone or iron" like a hydrant
or a l1ii.mp post, so I cannot mise these things without
baing conscious of a void and feeling a laok of: s~me­
thing, like any other intelligent and deoent man ..
With TheD, Vincent could exohange the moet intimate
of t!1oulShts,
w~e
I'DI'
he
l'{fHi~to1
concerned about him.
that Thea was
on~ hlltflan
being who
In another letter, which was soon
to follow, Vincent reveals his
frustr~tion in being now idle
hopelesely imprison him and one senses an
inw!l.~d
deeire for aation tbat will lead to a produotive
pOl'leful life.
I1bi~., I, 191, (L132).
consuming
pur­
8
A caged bird in 6pring knows quite well tbat he
might serve s orne end; be 1s well a:ware that there 1113
something fop him to do, but he cannot do ltv What is
it? Fie does 110 t qui. te remember v 'fhen some Vague ideas
OC<HlP to him, and he says to himselt', H'Phe others build
their neste and lay their eggs and bring up little ones,!!
and be knocks bis bead against the bars of the oage.
But the cage remains, and the bird ia maddened by
anguish.
"Look at that lazY' animal," says anotbe~ bird in
pl1ss1ng, fthe seems to be liVing at ease."
Yes, the prisoner lives, be does not die: there are
no outward signs of what passes within him--bis health
is good, he is mora or les~ gay when the Gun shines.
But then the sea~on of ml~ration comes, 'and attacks of
melancholia-- II 13ut be has everything be wants,fI gaY' the
children that tend him in hi. cage. He looks through
the bars at the overcast sky wbere a thunderstorm is
gatbering, and inwardly be rebels against his fate.
"I aT!'! caged, I 9..f\1 caged, and yeu tell me I do not wan t
anything, fools! You think I have everything I need!
0b! I beseeoh you liberty, that I m~y be a bird like
the other birds!
A certain idle man resembles tbis idle bird.
And circum~tanc.s often prevent men from doing
things, prisoners in I do Dot know what horrible,
horrible, most horrible oage. There is aleo--! know
it the deliveranoe, the tardy deliverance. A Justly
or un jus tly ruined reputfi tton, poverty, unavo1d·'lble
air-cums tanf'l's J [lavel'si ty--tbilt is what makes men
prisoners ..
Tbe above two letters reveal the empty caVity of biB
heart, where tbere is such a deep longi
for s ympatb y and
kindness, and such a deep need for- rriendsbip and understand­
i
~nd
For- Vincent, the present annoyance of being penniless
without worK, combined with his own personal loneliness
9
to augment his frustration to the
br~aking
point, where he
literally eroiea out, I'My Goa, •.• is it for all eternity,?'t 1
Reference is made wi thin this same letter' as well as
in
oth~rs,
ne~ded
as to what is
to give deliverance and
Ii. berty to tbe f'riend16I!!s, the lonely. end the adversGid.
Do you kno'w whrat frees one from this captivity? It
1e every deE'lp, serious affection. Being friends, being
brothers, love, that is tcfhat opens the prison by some
supreme power, by lome maBlo foroe. Witbout tn!., one
remains in prisonl 2
Love 1s a force of Godis opposed to the dark and
evil and terrible things ot' the wOI'ld and the dark side
of 11:1."6; it is a force of resurrection stronger than any
ao t and 11 ray of hope which gives eoneoiouElrJess arH:'I
securi ty to the depths iiU'JO the secret of the heart. 3
FDr Vincent, love possessed the neoessary p01.rer to
g 1 "1' a :LnWBrd hope and seeu1"i. ty,.
Lova wa.s Vincent IS answer
for all tbe problems of man, &'16 this wat! t'1bat he had Bought
to @!iva !lnc to bring into tbe sick, des ti tute lives of the
Borlnl1ge miners.
no
had of tan
of love as being tbe
~poken
foundation ana light of the Gospel.
Love from above, was
for Vinoent something very speoial; a love that was imparish­
able, that could suffer and endure all
the !'tight of the \"lorld,
II
This love was
the Biblioal s:rmbol of Chriet. 4
1Ibi:-d...
3Ib1~.,
thing~.
I, l4S, (Llll).
41bid., I, 147, CL112).
10
You kn0l4 how one of the roots or founda.tiona, not
only af the Gospel, but the whole Bible il "Light tbat
risee:! in aar>kness, II from dar-knees to light. Well, who
needs this most, ~ho will be receptive tD it? Experi­
enCE; has shown thq t the people who walk in darknees I in
the center of the earth, like the miners in the black
mines, for instance, are vary muoh impressed by the
words of the Gospel, and believe them, too. l
Vinoent's one vocation had been to teach and preach
the l'ford.
He would s peek of" the need to be born a€rain to
eternal life, to the life of Pal th, Hope, 'ind Che.ri ty.
The
heart of man, to Vincent, wse very much like the sea with
its gtorms, its sorrows and frustrations.
Rest and peace
from the storme of life could only be found by looking to
the One
~mo
was the Comforter and the Savior of men.
Tbe heart that seeks for God and for a Godly life
has more storms than any other--have you not heard.
wben your heart failed for fear, the beloved well­
known voice with something in its tone that reminded
you of the voice th~t charmed your childbood--the
voice of Him whose name ie Saviour and Prince or Peace,
saying 81 it vere to you personally: "It Is I, be not
afraid. Fe~r not. Let not your heart be troubled."
And we whose lives have been aalrn up to no~, calm in
compa~ison of wb~t others have felt--let us not fear
the 9to~ms of life, amidst the high waves of the sea
and under tbe grey clouos of the sky we shall see him
aDproachtn~, for whom we have gO often longed and
T/latched ... Him we naed e~ ... -,~nd we shall hear His voics!
It im I, be not arraid.
The culmination of being loved, qcoepted, oond under­
stood, W~g for Vincent, synonymous with his understanding of
God.
Vinoent believed love to be the attribute of God; He
1
Ci.,
I, 177-178, (L126L
2Ibi~%., I, 8.1-91, (excerpt from Vinoent's sermon) ..
11
was tbe comro~ter, the creator, the make. of all tbin~s, tbe
One above: I t"b 0 gave life, bopeand h applnen~s to the human
heart.
God knows us better than
WB
made us a.nd not He ourselVt1HI.
know oursel ve e, for He
HIEl knows of what thinllS
we have need. He know8 what is good for us. May he­
give ue His blessing on the seed ot His word, that He
has sOW'n.in
hearts. God helping us we snaIl get
through life.
orr
Vinoent's dismissal in JUly of 1879 along with various
other incidents combined to undermine his faith in the cburcb.
The bebavior of the Synod bad deeply disappointed him.
His
ecolesiastical 9up8~la~8 bad made him aware of the vsst dlf~
ferenoe that can exist between the letter and the spirit of
the Gospel.
The lack of underst~~ding and the ioy unc~ncern
of the cburch showed Vincent quite aloarly tbat their
standing resulted in many a oi tter a.r~ument.
On one occasion
the P~gtor cur~i~gly told Vincent to le~ve the heme.
Vincent
d bis f'3.ther at one period In his lif'e a..'1d now
hE!
\':'151
much digi l1Ll~ion~d.
The un-ChriE'tian bsh'lvior of hie
father a:f1d of the church convin(~,(,Hl him tha t their Hbole
system of religion was borrible.
Vincent had never been able to resist the temptation
to d 1"'llW smd it
I'J
Don became
9.
Ii bar-a tiG!:l for him.
Hi~ in ter­
eet and devotion to art were as sincere as his love Df Christ,
12
a:nd it blossomed into a new religious voca.tion.
rami) ined the s'ame only tbe means bad changed.
The aim
His art
became the vehicle through which he f'!'xpressed "tt"U\9lf
Chr1atilin ooncern,
c::)mpal'l~icn
and love for nis felloW' man.
The letters that followed within tbe months and years
to come, held many t·n-! tten inferences I'elctting to the pur­
pose !lnd objectives of' his art.
Here are only & few excerpts
taken from his many letters.
OCtr puppose ill! in the f1r13t plal1'3 98H'.. ref:::Jf·rn by means
of Ii. h 'ancH c!"!1ft lind of in tercours(~ wi ttl nature, believing
as we do tbat this is DUP first duty in order to be
bODest with otbers ~nd to be aODsistent--our aim is walk­
ing with GDd • • • it is our firgt dutl to fIx the heart
on high, ana this feeling forces me to reeomrnena to you,
brother to brother, friend to friend, preparing yourself
for a life based on simpler principles. l
Las t
year I t41"ote
yO!)
a g rea t many Ie ttere full of
~m too bugy puttinq tno58
reflections on love. Now ~
eame thing~ irlto practioe.
1 t eeeW1S to me a painter t S! duty to try to put an idea
into hi~ ~ork. In tbis print I have tried to express
(but I cannot do it ~1811 or so strikin~llf
as it is in
....
reality; this il merely a weak reflection in a dark
mirror) wh~t eeems to me one of the strongest proofs of
~.....
the eJxie
eEl of "quelque choee la-hliut!! (something em
hlgb) in which ~111et believed, namely the existence of
God and eternlty .... -oertainlJ in the irfinitely touching
expreesion of suoh a little old man, \'I!oic:h he himself is
perh3pe unconscious of. when he i~ sitting quietly in his
the fir's.
At the same time there 19 something
noble, somethlnt~ great, whioh cannot be destined for the
t-torms, rfilr'a(~ls has painted it so
autifully. In
Ie
001'"1'181' by
Tomt~
Cabin, the mOlt beautiful passage is perhaps the
one Where the poor slave, sitting with his wife fDr the
la~ t time I 'l11d lmo\.tlng be rous t dis, remembers the words t
e
CD~plete
Letters of
13
ItLet cares like a wild deluge
come,
And storms of sorrow fall,
May I but safely reach my h~me,
My God, my H8~v.nt my sll."
An artist neednft be a olergyman or a churohwarden,
but he certainly must have a warm heart for bis fallow
l'I'lsn .. 2
CH/\PTER IV
Everyone can recall past
expa~lenoes
that are
remindera of tragedy, sorrow, and disappointment, remember­
ing times of loneliness and depresSlion, and the illeeming
futility and meaninglessness of existenoe.
Beoause of tbese
universal experiences, Vincent's art relates in a very per­
sonal way to the problems and needs which confront all of
rIl/ll'lkind.
HiSl paintings portray an inner at tUl1tion lr..nown to
,all men, w1 th 1 ts impulses, urges and yearnings, its Impedl­
t'ien ts
~lnd
frus tra ti one.
There is however',
muoh
moX's
expressed in bie work than tl1e problems and needs of roan,
for alongside tbe problem, there would often be the plausible
solution.
into the
Vincent's gospel transformed his solution of love
~yrobols
of raith, hope, and charity.
Tbi@ was hie
fID!Hler for a confused and needy \"orld ,'ir-ecting those who
walk 1n darkness to look above, to seek
~he
Light, the
Source and Giver of life and love.
Ll ke an y man there
1.481'8
times of a wavering rai th,
of doubt and deferltiem. but a long walk under
lID
open
~ky
amidst the handiwork of the Master Artist, would soon renew
his f!lith and bring hope to his heart onee aga:ln.
of t
inGS
After many
se walks he would write to his brother about his feal­
cDnce~nin~
what he bad seen.
It was as if Vincent
1$
looked upon all of nature to be symbolioally linked with the
struggles of tbe poor, the needy and the lonely, the queet
for God, .and the recognition of the eternal and the inl'lnite.
Sometimes I have sucb a longhlg to do landsoape,
just as I c1"'Q.ve !l long walk to refresh myself; and in
all nature, for instance in the trees, I see expression
and Goul, so to speak. A row of pollard wl110wrn some­
times resembles a procession of almshouse man. Youn~
corn baa something inexpressibly pure and tender about
it, which awakens tbe sarna emotion as the expression of
a sleeping baby for instance.
The trodden grass at the roadside looks tired and
dusty like the people of the alums. A few days ago,
when it had been snowing, I saw a group of Savoy oab­
bages standing frozen and benumbed, and it reminded me
of a group of women in their thin petticoats and old
shawls which I had Been standing, in a 11 ttla hot-water­
and-coal shop early in the mornIng.
When one is in a somber mood, how good it is to walk
on the barren beach and look at the grayish-green gea
with the lon~ wbite streaks of waves. aut if one feels
the need of something grand, something infinite, some­
thing that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go
far to find it. I think I see something deeper, more
infinite, more eternal tban the ocean in the expreeaion
of the ey.~ of R little bqbJ wben it wakes in tbe
rrJorninr:!, and coos or laughs because it eass tbe sun
shining on its cradle. l Li f(f) wi tb its miseries, 1. te burdens and
SOl' rO\<IS,
was
for Vincent, testimonial to his belief concerning the
Genesis account of original sin, the fall of man
consequences.
reco.t'di
In a rew of
hi~ lettar~
~nd
ita
he referred to tbe
of man'e fall and expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
16
For Vincent, the laborer was seen as a direct descendant
from a
d1.8obedi~nt
Ada.m, who fell from Paradise.
• • • Who are those that show some SiRDS of higber
l1fe? They ara the onea wbo merit the words, laborers,
your life is dreary, laborers, you suffer during life,
laborers, jOU are bIassed; they are the ones who bear
the signs of a whole life or struggle and constant work
without ever faltering. 1
• • • I prefer to see diggers digging, and have found
glory outside of Paradise, where one thinks more of the
several':
brow. n2
uTbou ahal t eat thy bread in the swea.t of thy
To give furthar insight into this last rema.rk, the
following 1s an excerpt taken from Genesis, Ohapter 3, which
ooncerns the event and verses to which Vinoent bas referred.
Adam aDd Eve had sinned by disobeying Godte one command to
not eat of the tree of the
kno~ledge
of good and evil.
Because of this, the world was altered and became no longer
a Paradise, and man, no longer perfeat, vas to labor for his
food.
NOW
be became
eu~ceptible
to pain, old age and death.
To the woman he (God) said, ! will greatly mUltiply
your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring
forth children. yet your desire eball be for your hus­
band, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam, he
said, Because you have listened to the voice of Jour
wife, and bave eaten of the tree of which I bave
commanded you, you shall not eat of it, cursed is the
~round beoauss of you; in toil you shall eat of it all
the oays of' your life: thorns 'lnd thi$tles It sh'l11 bring
forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
In the sweat of your faoe you ehall eat bread till you
return to the ~round, for out of it youiwere taken; you
are dust, and to dust you shall return.
J
lIbid., I, 16~, (L121).
21010 ., XI, 36, (L2S6).
3 Tne Bible, (King James Version).
--------------------11
The Chris ti an, like Vari Gogh, relates the Genesis
aocount of roM's fall to hie pr'9liHmt imperfeotion; the
after effects are seen in man's inability to oontrol the
good and the bad
fo~oes
whicb seem to war witbin him.
Tbese
fopces oan either work for peace, love, and respect of the
individual and his worth, or they can
exis tenee.
thre~ten
man's very
Symptoms of this confliot--cont'us ion, fear and
loneliness I and the In.a.bi 11 ty to love--preval1 toda.y to an
even greater extent than ever before.
Vincent's art, however, does rJOt eolely dwell upon
the forlorn a.nd the problematical a.spects of life; bis main
purpose was to uplift tbose wbo were troubled and downtrodden
of 8pirit.
His art did not seek to undermine or to corrode
the values of life, but sought to bring bope, with tbe pur­
pose of re:ns!Aing man's contact with the Divine.
wsre a bridge that could unite
tb1~
His symbols
world lId.th the t"zorld
beyond ..
Vincemtts symboLism, or the recognition of it began
before hil career as an artist, when he waa between the ages
of t\in~nty-
ree and twen.ty ... four.
At Am£l! terdam, in 1677, he
'l.vas nlfiking preparatorY' s tuo y in ord er to pas s a s ta te
tlon for
training,
re~
Ii
1 ttance in to a (1n1 VOl'S i ty.
could
BrB
ex,amina­
wi th furtber
properly ordained for the ministry.
tbe first written inferences appeaped in
to tlls brother 'l'heo, that denott!!d tbe
of God and bis blessing.
Slm
I1S
18tt<!n"'~
sent
ing synonymous
18
I ge t up very earl y in the mornirlg; li-lhan the sun
rises over the yard and th~ workmen come pouring in
after a while, the sight from my window 1e so beauti­
ful, I wish you were here. tHll it b. ~iven me to
sit on such !l. morning wf'iting 11. sermon
!tHe malt.th
~i. ~un toris.on tbe evil andoD the BOGa,A Dr
'Awa~e thou th~t sleepest, and ari!. from the dead,
and ""hrist shall give tbee light."
on,
This last phrase. t'Aw:ake thou tb!lt steepest, and
arise tram tbe dead, and Christ: sball give the. light, II is
very significant in relation to a painting Vinoent completed
jUEt three months before bis suicidal death.
tion of tbe sun as a God symbol, !@
ing.
eonfi~ned
The interpreta­
by this paint­
He enti tied it lI'rbe REHiHu'reotion of' Lazarus,
i1
Vincent bad I1tted his compofiiJi tioD from a frag­
('F'igul"O 1)"
mant taken from tbe lower rigbt band corner of a Rembrandt
etching (Figure 2).
Notice that tbe Christ figure plays a
very prominent role in the Rembrandt etching.
Tbe
rich9~t
darks and blacks are found l4i.tbin the shadrn,v'ed folds Df His
garments"
ThEH'!e darks attract the eye immediately to His:
person a.nd I'elate to His importa!lce..
In Vincent's painting,
Christ has been entirely omitted.
has been replaced by a
tI'ClMerH30ue sun.
Its!
the entir-El @cene.
exaggerat~d
size and brilliance bathes
Su.ch a heavy predDminanoe of light and
llow in the absence of Chrigt, can only signify the sunts
lVan Gogh, .2,£. cit., I, 130, (LIO)).
Van
pp.
2 H• H. 'Jr':let~J I'be S,'lmbpli~ f.:.:~n~ua,ge of Vincent
D~~h
(Nem (or\{:
230':232.
gc~}raw-Hl11
Hook C
any, Inc., 1963),
Figure 1.
V'1f1 Gogh.
rfTh~
{Reproduced
ReeuI'rosction of Lazarus n by Vincent
from H. R. ':iraetz, The Symbolic
~cGraw·qi1l Book
~~ngu~Me or Vincent V9~ Ggs~ (New York~
Compliny, Inc., 1963), r•• <:,) .)
Figure 2.
liThe Reeu:rrection of Lazarus" tv Rem­
br'andt "rt.Hl Rljn.
(ReprcdL:!(.:led from H. R. Graetz, 'hlS
S;{mbollc . LanfltJ6ige ££.. Vincent. V.!!2 Gog~ ( \4 \"01'1: i'1cGrat.JHill Book CClmpany, Inc., 19b31. p. 2.;2.)
21
VlnC8mt's gospel of love found expression 1n an
encompassing vsriety of symbols.
The twili~ht of an ElVenlnll
~
~
sky, the moon, the atars, the sigbting of a Village church,
and the burning light of a lamp or candle, were all symbol.
ioally linked to the teacbings ot Christ.
But to discuss
them hepe is of little value or importanoa, for they have no
significant role within this author's work.
There are, bow-
ever, two other Van Gogh symbols whic:h do nead to be
manti oDed ..
Vincen t called
If
the good H in life, the lI,rayon blanc .. U
This was everything tbat brought beauty, joy and happiness
to the bumg,l1 he.art .. 1
1'l1e "rayon noirff! was just the oppo~ite ..
The.y were the nblaekl! or ev11 represeHJtatives of sorrow, pain,
loneliness, frustration,
,
6-cC.
2
'rna
most predominant syl'nbol
in Vincent's art tbat ga\re expression to m3Jl'S· strurgle
Rinst the "rayon nair" was the tree.
Tbe tree, with Its
branches outstretched against the sky like the gestieulat­
to
overCD1Tl8
the \'11noe and e tOrtl'lS of personal poverty,
adversity, loneline s smd m:Ls unders tana ing •
e' tre€ s
"Jh1ch
be d raw and pain ted in tns proces s of hi s ,:mrk, from the
willows of the Dutch plains to the fruit trees, the olive
IVan
2nid .,
(1,339a).
22
tree~!I at1d
the
cyp!"e~se13
:1ri the south of' J?rrance, fill strik­
ingly expre5s through the gr'aph1c gestlH"e of' bis brush, an
inner world of turmoil.
When
ab~orbed
spoke of tbem
in the study of trees, Vincent often
if they were Ii \fing beingS!,
'18
PCg&'('HH~ln1!
feel­
ings, tl"'ai tSl ,and chal"aetor1stios of bumans ..
Now I
htlV9
rO~1T, It
finished two la.rgett dr9.wlngs.
First, "Sor­
in a larger elze--only the figu:r-e witbout any sur'"
roundinge . . . . . . The other, nThe Roots, II shows soma tree
roote on some sandy ground. New I tried to put tbe same
sentiment into the landScape as I put into the figure:
the convulsive passionate o11ngill1.g to the eartb, and yet
being half torn up by the storm. I wanted to expre82
90mething of tbe struggle for life In that pale. ~lender
woman 'a f'i;i;1.u"e, as! tfell ag in the black, ~narled and
knotty roots. l
­
I ~aw ~ dead willow trunk •• • it was banging ov~r a
pool that wa::! coveree t'll'1th reed., quite alene lind
melancholy. • • .2
I want to sae bel' (Cbristine) immedl'1tely, that is as
scon '18 I could • • • I found her 100 ng as the h she
had withered--llterally like a tree which bad been
bla&teJ(l bya cold, dry \'Jlind, t..Jith its ;roung shoots
wi tbering; ano tornake. tb iog::'i c~rnplete, the baby ti?iS
elck too. and looked Bhrlveled.~
. • .. The \..rind firs t s tri ak the row of country bous ,~s
wi ttl their clumps of trees. • • .T'hos~ trees 14ere
E!1Jl1erb:
fio:ure
I "'HiS "_.~oln(;/eo to
,
, there '.f"~"9 dr'ama in eacn
l.
"-"
~ay, but I risen in eacb tree.!+
I
g
)60, ( L19S' ) ·
I
,
!f,23,
( L220 )
II
51~9 ,
( L268 ) •
·
23
Vinoent 1 S early "Willc,w, II drawn in 1882 (Figure .3)
waB typical ot his feelings tor trees.
Notice that the
twig~
tree's knotty broken branchel and conspiououl
into the surrounding sky.
stab
Its i.solation, being !l'""ay from
any other high standing tree or bUlh characterizes an
atmosphere of despondent loneliness.
Such a visual presenta­
tion of isolation, loneliness and frustration, denoted by its
broken stump-like form, cou.ld have been
obt\raot~1"'i8tio
~anvas
during the time in tmich this
of
Vincent's
DlIJ'n,
painted.
The overoast slqr speaJrs so clearly of impending
often tnok miU'1y other formS! in Vincent' 9 art.
fo~
the Bun; at other times, it was barB
ing
tre~s,
O~
further yet reduoed to just
brllnah upon the :!:r-oLmrL
~Jhile
Sometimes 1t
~mong
~
wae
other flourish­
stump or a broken
the light from above, the sun,
symbolized his
~ospel
tree eXpI'E'.Hleed
bis gtrugrs;19. ':L.11d the broken branch or stump
1
defeat and fruetration.
symbolized
hl~
art which
W~B
Vinoent.s
p~lnti
of faith and 10v., the gnarled, knotty
used
B
were never static, even in his earlier
ere was always
~
close
relBti~n9hip
pp. 21-23.
between movement
24
~nd
space in them.
It was as if hie painted stretches of
la.na, mountains 11 clouds, orchards, and 11 ttle figures or
object9--~
cart, a tra1n, the rays of tbe sun, wer~ all in
motion.
But it was a natural movement, rather serene and
cheerful
\olh
tob seemed to und ulate rbythmically, like music
across hie canvases.
This movement, however, increased to a
convul@i va wri thing and cburning in lt389 after his en try into
q
mental hospital at St. Remy.
Olive trees and cypresses were Vincent's favorite gub­
jects in the countryside of St. Remy.
The cypresses qlways
preoccupied him, hs wrote to 'rhea, and he ptdnted them many
times.
!3if.! and rnassive trees dominate h15 "Cypresses"
(Figure
4)
whioh be di~ in June.
They werB built of curling
spirals ""hlcb Visually seem to impetuously writhe in ':tlmost
neurotic
a~itation.
Tbe same sWirling agitated brushwork is
carried into all sections of the painting;
fro~ th~
ground they oonti nue up into tbe mountalns and
tres@
hi~h
1"1
sa
fore­
l'ITi
to the
into the undUlating clouds in countless curved
,
. 1
1.lnes.
the painti
, but also a multiplioity of line posseBsing
mxie ty and frus
ing
the~e
tl~a tioYl.
~~hen
Vi.ncent used a line pos e es s­
characteristios to paint his lendscape of trees,
bushes, mountains and Bky, be communicated to the viEH4sr
Plgure 3.
"l1illow H by VirJofJ:t1t Va.n Gogh.
(Reproduced
from H. H. Graatz, ~. S~m.boli.o I,~n!tua[}'e of Vincent Van Gogh
(Ne'toJ York: f1iJcfJra14-Hl11 l300lt Company, Inc., 1963) t p. 20~
---------------------------..
26
F'igure 1+.
"Cypress8e" by VinCH3nt Van Gogh.
i
(He prod LlcHHj fro. 1"11
• R. Orae tz, l he :S~mbQ Ii c L ll.ng iJ age of
Vlncen! Van GOllh (
'[orl{:
r~aGraw- i l l 800k Comp,my,
Inc., 19631, p. 186.)
-
..---------------------_..
27
meaning beyond just hie racognizable objects.
just the:;
paint~d
Ona seee not
objects, but objects communioating the
qualities ot the twisted, jaggBd, nervous lines ueed to
create tbem.
With each object
ex.presain~
its own app:re'"
oensiveness and frustration. the entire canvas becomes a
reflective mirror of' Vincent's own tormented emotions.
Vinoent nevar accepted lite as !t
wast
he was always
looking for tbat better and happier tomorrow, where there
would perha.pa be found a little bit of sympathy, a
littl~
hi t of kindness sl.'Hnm. tbe discovary of a friend.
Though
hie difficult character generally prevented him from find­
ing this, he always kept boping and longing for somebody
with whom he could reside and work.
Always wanting to live
for Iillorllsbody, be was hopeful of finding a wife and having
children of his own.
Tbese were treasu!"€ls wbleb he oon­
tinually sought, but never found.
There was however, always
the distant but hopeful future which \'1119 to come..
Ithope n for a bet ter
t,omorrOl"l
This
became I las tIy, another veray
impol:'" ta.n t e ymbal to be found in bis art.
It ,,.ras the one
import!U1t symbol needed to complete hie p'ospel of love; it
was need
Vincent's
could form
fof' the completion of a Biblioal expression.
~oElpGl
i1
waf;! nov! symbolized in ptlintt symbols whioh
r\[ew ~restlitl1ent mese
e of faith, hope md love.
'rhe flolJl"ishi.ng newness of spl"intt md i ttl buddi
tv/iS
I
for Vincent, very ~ymbolic of hope.
"Hope
lt
was seen in
28
the tender growth of young wheat, the
fr~sbnags
of
g~ean
turnips, and particularity in the sprouting of young tree
shoots.
The newness of spring was symbolic of a new and
better day, a new lifa which could grow in the light of His
love; a new creation wholely dependent upon God's mercy and
goodness for continued life, growth and strength.
• •• When the first yea~s of life, lifa of youth
and adolescence, life of worldly enjoyments and vanity
will perforoe wither--and tbey shall, even ~e the
blossom falls from the tree--vigoroue new life enaots
up, the life of love unto Christ • • • • 1
It is true there is a withering ~~d bUdding in love
as in nature, but nothing dies entirely. It 19 true
there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea.
And in love, either for Q ~oman or fer apt. there are
tlme~ of exhaustion and impotence, but tbere is no
permanent disenchantment. 2
• •• A man, who finally produces &omething poigmint
at the blossom of a hard difficult life, is it a wonder,
like the black hawthorn, or better still, the gnarled
old apple tree which ~t a certain moment bears blossoms
Hhicb . are among the l1lQS t delicti te and 11109 t Virginal
things under the sun. J
• •• That'8 the artistic element. It seems to be
weak now--but that new shoot will sprout and it will
sprout quickly. I em afraid tho old tr~nk ie split up
too much, and r say, sprout in an entirely new direc­
tion, otherwise I am afraid tbe trunk will prove to lack
tbe necessary vitality.~
IVan Gogh, ~. ci~., I, 80, (L82a).
2Ibi~., I, 539, (L226).
3 U ')i!L, XI, 220, (LJ!~3).
4 Ibig .,
Xl, 172, (L333).
P-------
..
_
CIiAPTEFi V
SYMBOLHH1 OF THE AUTHOR
In the beginning, all that was created upon the face
of the earth, held within the morphology of' ite structure
or being, alaments of' tbe eternal and tbe perfect.
was not limited to sevent,
unending time.
pleased.
OP
Lifa
eighty years. but was for all
Man had total freedom to do and will as he
There vas only one restrlation, one law that he
was to obey.
He was Dot to eat of the tree that possessed
the knowledge of good and evil.
With the .ating, however,
came expulsion from Paradise, separation from God, and
eventual dea tn.
The e te:rnal cons ti tuent wi th in all forms
of life was ~omehow lost.
able eV61rlaetlng flan18, but
easily be
blo~m
age and death.
Life was no longer an unquench­
Ii
frail .flioker tl'nt could
out by the susoeptible 11ls of sickness, old
De'lth became an intert..roven integral p'1rt of
life which all would eventually face, and face alone •
One
seee the lifele!!ls reslJlts of dee.th all arotmCl, but there is
no p'lrticipant who can tell of the actual experience.
is a shrouded and mysterious thing, but to the
1e not oblivion, but
8
Death
Cbri~tit1n
doorway to the P'irildise that '4ilS loet.
there restitution from the misery, the suffering, and the
bestiality of 11
it
can be f'oun(J.
30
Death, howeve~, still holds an axpe~lence of the
unknOtrffi whicb man, for the moat part, does f'a'ir..
His mind
rebels from d~.relling sobet'ly upon toe oilemrna of death, even
when it oan be very near, wben it involves a loved one who
suddenly passes away.
Since death is a part of the whole of
existence, it always ie eventually reokoned with, but many
times one feels that the participator was bardly prepared.
If Christian art is to loyally teach the truths of
Soripture, it must also playa part in man'e redemption,
wbere the issue of death must be faced.
Alongside the love
of God and the bope one has in Christ; there should also be
seen the rea11 ty of awai ti.ng death and the penal ties from
which one can be redeemed.
An image such as thie, bowever,
must be handled discreetly, in order for the viewer to con­
template beneath the surface to tbe harsher realities within.
The choice of
Ii
death symbol must not approximate too closely
the real
thin~,
as to repel or make the viewer too uncomfort­
able..
ath that 18 fOtmd t41thin nature certainly
COf:l118cted enou~h
i~
d18­
from the coffin and the funeral home to be
8ucceesfully used as a means of drawing the mind towards a
death situation.
mally
~huflder
When crossing a Cield, one does not nor­
a.t the sight of a dead tree, or oringe when
stumbling upon the bones of a bull.
JU8t the recognition of
feelinF'~
Hbone!! i
teelf can be sufficient enouC!h to l'1rouse
death.
Done formation that does not rely too heaVily upon
of
->--------------_.._-----_••••••••••­
31
the human could sucos@efully be used.
In fact, any reference
to bone, muscle, tendon ,:md inne1'" body functioning that is
anatomical in renditi.on, cm also be simulative of death.
An!itom~r !~md
its depiction of the human booy normally iEl not
that closely connected witb death to awakeD 111 feeling.
fo~mations
t,Jhat about combining human and animal bone
into one bOoy or structural l<fhole'1
Or
together
Such an image would cer...
tainly create a divorcement from the normal assooiation one
has with death.
Not only would it voice the inevitable deatb
af all men, but of the animal as well, that deatb can infact
all of nature with its poison.
Being ransomed from the grave is
tant face t of
l"'EH:Jampti on I
cart~inly
one Impor­
but redemption b as a twofold pur-­
pose.
There i a
Thou~h
sin condemns, the sacrifioe of blood redeems, tar
9:190
de Ii ver,'lnce from the penalties of sin.
without the shedding of blood there 1s no remission of sin.
11 of
~nquenchable
fire only through
the aro!s.
This aspect of redemption needs alBo to be
""v-pv''''~O''''~
",""",,,,u.
vrh.~.t·
"'A.
", .... "1
po:
h~
,~
,. uld.
-v'"
":I,ood
,<;
I bo11
9\1m.··
J'"
this penalty from which one ig redeemed?
b~en
as E!O 01 a ted wi ttl f1 re gnn flame.
Pi 1"0
Itlhat
could express
.
Rell has always
j
in its una on­
trollablc state, 1s frightening and dangerous.
plainly of extreme pain and Buffering.
1
y
It bespeaks
not use it then
32
as
~
hellish symbol?
A suggestive image of fire and flame
could be incorporated Qmldst a death symbol of bone forma­
tion.
One 140uld tl1en sea an implied envision of hell i teelf.
'-Phaee proposed redemptive symbols in conjunction with
Vincent's, will now be artistically used to express the nwhole fi
of Scriptural teaching.
---------------------CHAPTER VI
ICONOGRAPHIC SYMBOLS FOR A
BIBLICAL E~XPRESSION
Symbols presented wi tbin this thesis have related to
one of three things.
1.
They are~
Tbe consequent problems of mm aince bis fall from
grace.
(Symbols of man's lonelinEH'\Is, sorrow,
pain, adverai ty, true traiti on, tee s trufl~le to
overcome, death, tbe evil of life, the fear of
danu1ation, the punisbmentof Hell ).... The knotty
gesticulating tree, the anatomical formation of'
bone, tbe suggestive image of' fire or flame, and
the
writhin~
cburning movement of form within
spaoe.
2.
GOd'S
love
g110Vm
through Cor-1st, His tea.cbings, and
the orcs s, gave alI men access to rUms ell:'" and a
means of
~olving
their ppoblema.
(Symbols of Ocdte
love to man, one's pereonal fa.ith in Christ, mants
need to love and be loved, warmth, kindness, aceept­
:ince and understanding, all that which
1 on~s for. the gr; od and des i.rable ) --'T'be
e heart
51
1m or Ii ~h t
tilhich is above, that whicb is above Ilna beyond.
------------------34
3. The hope of redemption from tbe grave and the penalty
of' sin.
of
Q
(Symbols of Jr'61!H1rrection, of redemption,
new day,
!l
brighter better tomorrow, the new­
nes $ of 9.'waken.lng life, to sprout and grow in tbe
light of faith despite surrounding obstaclesl- ...The
delicate fr'eeh flourfibing growth of spring and ita
bUdding, partie ularly the
~prouting
of young tree
shoots.
The latter two catalogued groups of symbols oombine to
form
ba.sical1~f the n~thole H
brou~ht
Group 1 1s
of tbe New Testament.
into union with Groupe 2 and 3 there is
also formed a r'Bibllcal whole."
The problematical life
originating from the Genesis account of
tt on
\'111
th
\'\ihen
~anle
fall in combina­
'res tat'i'ltm t tee.chinge I form the very 'Ienti ty!! of
Scriptur~.
to siMplify wh.t
tn otlf!h t
s i 1'llp1y
1.
0
9.
f
hq8
been said. the essential Christian
this theei s to be expres esc th rou@th s ymboliem is
ref'; ta tSIJlen tot' f\Jndamen ta.l theology which is:
God or-aated the h'lor'ld 9I1d man ttl have fellowship wi tb
re, but beoause of
ence,
f'ellot'H~bip
man'~
self-will and disobedi­
was broken 'IDe! man's n"iture
t,H1S
811 t('H"eCl from Di vine perfec ti on tc human frail ty and
dea.th.
2.
Life became d1f'fieult and problematica.l b3cauS'e man
now was imperfect, subject to pain, loneliness,
..- --------_........_----_...
15
irritability, worry, truetratlDn, poverty, tear,
etc.
The ea.rth no longer .freely gave of ltfJelt to
bener! t man. (Geneeis 3 :16.. 19) "In toll
eat the
pl~t9
of the fields.
IOU
sball
In tbe sweat of your
faoe you ahall eat bread till you return to the
ground for out of :1 t you were taken. II
3. God loves the world for He ueed his Son as a saorifice
for the ein of mankind.
Dr tbe means
by
Christ became the mediator
whioh oontaat
restored between
w~s
The entire life of Christ was an out-
man and God.
through his bealing the gick, the lame, and the
blind; Ue taught them to dD unto otbers as tbe,
would have others do unto tbem 1 and to love one
anotber. 2
Christian love was a solution for con­
querlng the problems of tbe world.
4...
His resurrection gllve ml1n hops for
tl
better life, a
life eternal, besides new hope in tbis life for He
said, "All things work together for goad to tbem
that
love God 1f3 "Ask and you ehall receive, '14
j
1 '!'h e B:i. b Ie, Milt the w 7: 12 •
2 Ib1d ., Jobn 15:17.
3Ibld .. , Romans 8:28.
!-i-Ibid", ~;YattheM 7:12.
----------------------­
&
36
"Whatever you ask in prayer believe that JOu shall
receive It, and you Will ll ... -etc. 1
The following ohapter will symbo11Qally illustrate
this Chris tian phl1oeophy of life in
painting ,and soulptural works.
11
number of graphic,
DRAWINGS. PAINTINGS, Aln) SCULPTURE
When dealing with people, Christ used parables con­
tinuously rer illustrating and instructing them in the things
that pertained to the spiritual.
He
u~ed
familiar everyday
objects or incidents to illuminate His teachings.
Christ's
narratives of the sower,l the lost sbeep,2 the sown tares
amongst the wheat,3 and the growth of the mu~tard eeed. 4 are
but a few of Hie parables to be found witbin tbe gospels.
He
made use of them to veil the truth from tbose Who were not
willing to see it.
Those who really
de~ired
to know, would
not rest until they had found out the meaning.
The following series of graphics are also
"vi~ual
II
Ii
type of
pru"able, fo!" like the spoken \0/01"0 hidden within an
allegorical
n~rrat~on,
these works hold the
graphic images of symbol.
average mind
deci~her
It Bhould be
B~id
the
One
within
ask then, how does the
m~y
meenin~
~Drd
behind euch symbol imagery?
that much can be clphened from the
ima~ee
qlone; however, for full understanding, some verbal explana­
tiOD is needed.
In
th1~
instance, the author prefers to use
1 TI18 Bible, Matthew 13:)-9.
2 Ibid .,
tthew 18:12-14..
3I.b i d ., ~19. t the w 13: 21+ - 30.
I
!"~J.bid., IVla t thot'" 13 :31-)2.
a poem as ~ means of clarific~tion. It will serve as ~ key
to opening the doore of understanding to the viewer.
The
poem (Figure $) will unlock the symbolic content of tbe
l
The symbolism now should not be difficult to
drawings.
una ers tand.
'rhe majority of these drawings are approximately fif­
teen by twenty-foup incbes in size.
macH um of ink, conte- crayon
Ill'ld
They are rendered in tbe
009.1'"00a1.
All
basic­
exp;'EUIS
ally the same contentJ only tbe imago is varied.
aecause of
this, there will be nc need to discuso each individually, but
only a chosen few.
The first
drawin~
that was completed
within tni Ii! ser-Iea is seen inf"igure 6.
Hare all the supa r­
ficialities of life have been cut away and one stands alone
t~
face the
r'€ H l1
values and issues of life.
formations of bono stretch upward.
Swirling agitated
One can sense a desire for
release, for escape from the envelopment of blackness.
1s a
~lOrld::>
death, bl1t is it death?
Here
'fbers is not the rest­
rul repo@o of eternal sleep, but the stance to fight and
etru~gle.
seems
A feeling of unfulfillment, of longing and desire
permeate rsstleesly throughout the entire image.
t
8one, muacle, and tendon, though crowded togetber, seem so
isolilted.
Each bet.utile hie own sta.te of loneliness,
tioD, the want of release from life's many problems.
fru~tra-
One
f08la the wieh of being found, of beinq restored to Dompleto­
nS[HI, tD
~·lholene8~
of the pl1;}reical, the 8001;11, and the
LT'he /luthor, r'i;/ll"fll1ret Mae Armagost, t'Lld specifically
dedica.ted this poem to fhe writer of this thesis in 1972.
--------------------39
Theae bones ot the living dead cry out.
Son of' Man, can these boneE} live?
In pain, they toil
In sorrow, they writhe
R'9 acbing for the
Tbl$! unlrnownGoC! knows.
Our dwal1in~ is tbe d!lrkne~s
House
the damned
Damn ad to Ii v1ng
Alwaym raQcblng to see,
But never seBin~.
Who ehall give us 11Bbt? ­
We have only the brightness of our burning
Tbe valley of the shadow of death
Alive with frozen f~ames.
Give us 11ght!
Let uS! se~!
of
I am the ligbt of" the wo!"ld.
The people that have ~.H\nder'ed in darkness
Have eeen a great light • • •
But bara from tbis darkness,
Seeds to sunlight
We strive to grow,
Only growing
Old.
As the grase withereth,
And the flower fa.deth,
Evan ea--old
w~
die.
We are entombed.
DIJet wrapped in wood and steel
And sculptured stone
JL.'10 buri ad •
Thy de~d man shall live!
people, I will open your graves
And cause you to come up
Out of your graves.
I am the I'EHiHJrrection.
He that believeth in Me,
Tbough he were dead,
Yet shall be live.
Oh, ~rBve, where is thy Victory,
'01:1 death i.rhere Is thy stl
I am the light of tbe world,
The re!urreation,
And the Ii fa.
'(
o•
-J)~
(l)
k
:1
~
Gi~
.r! N
eX, .-l
41
o
Z
£'--it
@
H >(
:::5
tnl::
ortcc'
[r.,ri
---------------42
apt ri tual.
If all tbie 'were to come true, then sueh a da:rk
world would beoome bright iii ttl the light of happiness..
is'
110 S', ug gas ti. on
There
of it hapP€Jning ber's, however, for tnt 8 is
a world olltBide of Di."lneLu11on arH:l fellowshiP.
!1
t<1orld f,g,11en
from grace, and banished from Paradise.
Figure 8 basioally contains tbe same expres9ioD, except
Onoe again Van Gogh's content i~ felt
for a few additions.
througb the upward I"EHl.ohing of two bull skulls..
Here also
one feels that deep, desperate emotlon is on display..
Humans
do not generally ehare Dr express eucb strons feelings of
unhappiness, but usually try to hide or suppress sucb feelings
\41 thin
toe self'..
ErliDtion as forceful and
personal ''is this
would be very difficult to adequately express through an
aCHleptable human image.
Stl'ong emotion mirrored through
human repr'811Hmtation could
He could
cau~e
Ii!
emblrrasement for the viewer.
0 EHlsl1y identify with it al'10 seeing bimself would
reelin~~
become self-oot'lElcJUie.
\iithln this drawing,
deeply human ae well
personal, has been projected upon the
animal.
One
OIID
(15'
~til1
but it becomes less
that is
feel with the emotions of the animal,
pEH"fEOnlll.
Identification
t~itb
abject and the struggles of its existence becomes
intimate wben viewed through oolirnal formation.
the death
18S8
HUl2l!U1 fOl"11'1
envelopea witbin the animal, but the abstractive qua1it Jf of
tb e wb ole €Inc ourages id en tiflcs. t1 on 108 El' !Uld pe- J~cho 10151. C '11
distance.
Stylization find 'lbstraction ahJ
promote
is
43
distancing and lack of identIty.1
Notice that this drawing does not express the hope­
leesness of the other.
~ra
Even thougb the formations of bone
fundamentally dark and forlorn, the su~roundlng space is
filled with light.
Sunshine floods in through the window,
and with it comes a note of warmth and chaer.
The warmth of
God'S love and concern is for all who would come and believe.
Such symbolism ie easily understood if one only takes the
time to read the introductory poem.
The poem reveals the
light to be synonymous with Christ and also speaks of Him
being the resurrection.
He reigns above all, restoring
peace, happiness; and life
everl~sting
to the believer.
One other item needs to be mentioned.
Witbin this
drqwing there can be found four embryonic formations of new
and growing 11fe.
The reason for this will be explained.
Within the totality of life's experience one sees not only
death but the creation of new life as well.
While death
continues to taka ita toll, there is always new life to take
ite place.
tint! to
Life continues to perpetuate itself from
eratjon.
'fh~,
~enera-
eprinkling of embryonic form amidst
this continuing
that of bone la 8imply a means of expressl
cycle of life and death.
Pipures 11-15 have additionsl redemptive content
tofore have not been
p.
dlgcu~sed.
In
~ll
five
lU;dmund L51H·ke
ldman, Art 'is 1m.apie and Idet:l
lewood Cl:lf'f~, N€lw Jersey:--rrentice ... Uall, Inc., 1'167),
6.
•
. .
Figure 9.
crayon, and ink.
Drawing No.4. Medium:
~Hze:
24 ft x: 18."
46
Fi~ure
10.
crayon and inl't.
Drawin~
Sized
24f!
No.5.
it
18. n
Medium:
charcoal, conte
47
drawings one finds some reoognizable form of crucifix or
image that relates strongly to Cbrist's death.
One does
not see a crucifixion, but symbols that speak of its event.
There ie no desire to conooct or reconstruct a staged
cruoifixion where "you are there" a.s a partioipator.
there are pointing reminders.
Instead.
Reminders that say to bear in
mind tbe cross witb its cruelty.
It is tbe only means by
which atonement is made for the sins of mankind.
The true meaning of redemption, expressed in ite
oompleteness, can be sean in Figurea 1Z-14.
Alongside the
death imagee of Chriat and His oroes, one aleo saes the
incurring judgment that
await~
the unbeliever.
1s disbelief there is no remission of sin
~nd
Where there
without the
pardoning of Christ there is the penalty of damnation.
Damnation
1~
easily envisioned witbin these three drawings.
One ease bone, musole, and tendon gradually being oonsumed
and transformed into flames of fire.
eo severe that it twists and deforms.
the agony of their burning.
criee for deliverance.
There 19 sensed pain
One ean alroo9 t feel
Each tortured form soreams and
While in their agony, they struggle
upward, to reach, to gr!.l9p that whioh oan give eeonpe--the
Christ symbol of atonement.
In drawings
4~6, (Figures 9-11), the hurnan element
has the dominatinrr role over tli'~t of the animal.
The
bUl11'h'1
bod y 1e '1p proac hed through the academi os of ma tomy, but
..
-----------------------..
48
F'ip;ure 11. DI"awi
crayon and inl{. Size: 1
No.6.
H x 2LJ..!I
charcoal, cont~
­
•
1"1 §! ure 1). Dra,.zing l~o. 8. Heditnn:
crayon and ink. Size: 24'" x IB.ll
en 'ircoal, oonte
v--------------------__
~-s;;
51
gure
14.
c r""1. yon GI11 ,1 1. n k •
Drawing No.9.
?4" x 111.!l
S1 z C t
~------------------_.52
D
,( '"
crayon
F1 ur€! 15. Drawing
• 10.
ink.. Size: 23~11 x 18.
j\'ledillm:
II
charcoal t
cDnt~
.­
x!)
•
rl_""t
N
~
t.. !<
~
C()
~.------------------
bit=:
..~ T­
1" rl
------------------55
handled \41 th freedom.
The liberty to deplu',Jt from true body
etructuroe is neClatJIsary in order to exprese
content thll!t this thesis prEH!ente.
of all outward adorrUllent.
ing notbing..
throu~b
fom the
Mtln hera is seen stripped
He stmdl! alone and naked, posSlees ...
One views the body in stages of dissection.
Disseotion begins through the skinwnd ribs to open cavities
tbat eventually lead to tbe back vertebrae.
cal being or m,an is in a sense on display.
Tbe total pbysi­
ODe sees not the
perfect Adam of Paradise, but something vet''! mortal.
The
partioular mortal seen in Figure 11 seems so unprotected, so
susoeptible to hurt and pain, lonel1neas and sorrow, sick..
ness md death.
Figure 18 is the only drawlr'l(2: that oomes comparati vely
The purpose of the work, bow­
01088 to being portraiture.
ever, trlae not to recapture another shQl10w sentimental Christ
in tbe natural but to present His image through symbol.
The
line used to oreate the total image is tense and apprehensive.
There Is also sensed a feeling
This tension iii l2rl!lsil,Y felt.
of
~adnese,
fear, and great anXiety.
This is the Chriat 01'
Getheemane who could foresee the onslaught 01' tbe oroes.
One aan
BEle
Hie face take upon itself the very image of that
croes..
The
'lrm9
brow line.
of a cross
Clln
be seen extended along the
Ita upright post is at right an lee to tbe
crossing the transversal.
It extends
and also down along the nose.
brCH>l,
into the forehead
His thoughts geem to be
$6
Figure 18. Dr~win~ No. 13. Medium:
aDnt~ orayen and ink. Size: 18" x 24."
charcoal.
..
.::
0'
""; ..::"1•
N
Q)
M K
:::'.I
til;::
dr"\ 0')
t'L,..-.I
---------------
a
58
directed inward, contemplating upon the frightening t9;sk
tbat 1l1ye befor>eHim.
It is as if foreknowledge tells Him
or the awaitin~ pain and the awesome bU~den of ain that 1s
to be laid upon Him.
"Behold tbe Lamb of God, whicb taketh
away the sin of the world." 1
Tbe last two symbols to be presented g.raphiaal1y
wi thin th! s trH~e is are those, derived from Van Gogh.
there is the tree.
1"11'61 t,
Vincent maw it as the t1pi.fier of his
own personal mtrugglings.
The aeoond symbol is spring.
Its
new buddings was for Vincent the symbol of renewal; hope,
and resurrection.
Both at these symbols
C~"l
be seen in
F'igurae 16 and 17; the t~ee symbol oan also be seen in
Figure 20.
lotice the tree in Figure 16.
oertain outstanding human characteristics.
ane eees only a burned out etump.
It leems to bave
At firet glance
Wi to closer examination,
one notioes that two of itl broken branches resemble up­
lifted arms that rallon h8tl.venwClrd.
r8sEHl1ble~
thQ.t of
Iii
The stump's top also
head look1.ng upward.
\H thin tbe head
there 1B an eye-like sooket tbat Is attached to a long Sftout­
11ke
proj~ation.
Ifu"'ge and open.
One aleo gees tbe semblance of a mouth,
Here is man personified, struggling upward,
olt"Jring aut, res-ching in belief for the One t4'ho alone can
re~urraot
the dead to new life, to healtb and happiness.
That resurrection of new life Dan be seeD in the palm of the
IThe Bible, John 1:9.
----------------
~>---~
r;
i
59
l'!aw little shoots rise
tree's most predominant branch.
from that which seemingly la dead.
tree there stands a man.
At the left of the buront
The feeling of extreme aBe Is felt
in the clothes that he wears.
Hia j'loket, f:1'We:£ite1" and pants
all bave the s arne gnarled l'oot and bark quali ty that is found
On tbe ri~ht 18,;g the 1"emnants of a
in the old dead stump II
large broken branoh.
It reminds one of an ostl"!eh who has
its'? helld buried in the sand.
The darkest branch, whicb rests
upon the ground and moves up into a large knotted form, could
resemble the bird 'e head and neck.
The top stUbby branch
th il t repeats tbe h8nd form on the burnt tr'ee could also
resemble the bird's tail featbers.
expression of defeatism
new 111'e or relHJrreC ti on
believe.
ana
Tbie Ie Van Gogh's
disbelief.
CCH'I'l8S
One notices tbat no
from it.
I t has nc fal th to
The draWing !JUI a whole tben bespeaks of ageing t
eventual deatb, and new resurrected life for the believer.
Drawing 12 (Figure 17), 1 s a further varLltion of tbis
same tl1erne.
tion
However, wi thin the troee there can be found addi­
content wFrlcb could usa an explar.iation.
One notices
tL'Pil. t marlY of ti1E~ tree t s hranches tend to resemble a IJ'ariety
of' animal fornHitlon.
lower right.
A cat ... lit{e figure can be seen at tne
On the left ~ide of the drawinB Bome type of
iU'ltlered 1:tnim9.1 Cal') also be eleen.
I·t.
or deer.
lin~
~n it~
"'-"....­
baok.
Tbe
Just above th!t_ one
..
60
bird' &I leg, u.ptumed in a poel tion of death.
Th0 one buman
element found in tbe dra.wing ia hardly notioeable.
va thin
the dark reoe~seB of the tree's trunk, there emerges a faoe.
Even though the eyes
U"'8
totally conoealed in darkness, tbe
nose becomes visible as 1 t pf"oj'ects into the light.
One
eees tbe mouth as one large open cUlvity lined tdt,b a sugges­
tion of teeth.
t<"inding all of' e ucb content wi thin one broken
tree eymbol suggests more than d~M.tb and ~he struggle to
overOO't'l'l8.
It speaks of death as an encompasslng thing, a
dlsea~e of' the environment which spreads its infection not
only to the human but to plant, animal and all of lifa.
again the symbol of hope and resurrection can be
treete uppermost branohes.
S6en
Once
in the
Sboots of rH~W lite rise up from
that whiob 1& dead.
The tree aymbol takes a different form in the last
dr8wln8, Figure 20.
slmdy beaDh.
It is seen 8S a pieae Of driftwood on a
The stru~H~lB to overeome is iigain felt through
the restlEHHi Slgltl;ltion of' its: knotted form.
PSllntlnglii 16 ... 18 (
They
OSlI'f'y
no
l'1~HN
gU1"6S
21 ...23) need not be ex.a.mined.
symbolism which WfiI't''lnts \-tr'.tten !3.tten­
tion.
Thsir symbolio content has been prev1ou@ly discussed
in the
dravin~
Beries.
The last paint!
J
gura 24, con­
tinue. with the tree symbol being in the farm of drit
ad.
~th a brio~e overpass, one gee~ 0 large tanglea m~ss of
eath this dark over­
pass there is sensed no 11
t
Dr warmth,
~nly
the wet stanoh
---------a
~
..
61
c.;;
NN
C\l
(l)
t.. \>I:
..
62
~P""--­
r'
I
63
F.
•
o
-;::.
"t""!n'
flo C\J
"'p
i:t~
..
rr'f\2
N~·
c
65
rl
o
Ct.
.'.
:+(\1
N-y­
;jj
K
$..0
~~
'!'>'- ....
<,:";
"'--'·.".'·..·..1·,
Ct'"
(\,
-----------"­
r
66
Outside the sun 9~ln~~
br4o.bt.
11
"'..
J. o
of rot and decay.
tens upon the water where all is clean and freeh.
differenoe is quite
and death.
ccnt~~at·ina
. ,
e;
<&. """"
It glis-
The
th edirf
. · Granoe between life
When viewed in this light, the underpass becomes
a net for entombing the dead.
The flowing water beyond,
becomes a God symbol, a restorer of life, liberty, and
happiness.
Further steps toward creating oontemporary Christian
ioonography can be seen in Figures 25-28.
Chairs, pioture
frames, gathered bits end pieces from sofas and tables all
combine to oreate these two pieces of soulpture.
is symboliem that deals
~ith
Hera again
life, death and resurrection.
In both examples, a multituda of furniture forms are encased
in a type of box that haa the semblance of a coffee table.
This box also has a resemblance to that of a hotbed whioh
be found in any greenhouse.
covered with glass
~d
C'ID
It is usually a bed of eartb
heated by the fermentation of manure,
for the forcing of plante.
With this knowledge in mind, the
various uprisings of furniture form could then be seen as
D"~'~~a
o"'Vl">..LLl('j
-I t
pane.
N.,.'otl·~~.·
t.·~t·'l~
.'
... "" t·~.~
lJ_
J.
v .~.iven
'
to eacb piece of
SCUlpture, Resurreotion 1 end Reeurrection 11.
both basicallv the
"
S!lme
Tbey are
Ilno p'ive l"ef'erenoe to the eartHS verses
of scripture, 1 Corinthiron~, Chapter
lS, Verses 3S-3B and
67
But some ona wlli ask, "I-3:ow are the dead raieed'?
~hitht' what kin~ of body do they eome?1I You fooliab man!
~ a
you sow voes not coma to life unless it dies. And
what you sow is not tbe body wbich is to be, but a bare
kernel, per~aps of wheat or of aome other grain. But
God gives Iv a body as be has cbosen, and to each kind
of seed its own body.
So ie it with the resurrection of the dead. ~~at is
sown is perishable, wbat Ie raised Is imperishable. It
is sown in dishonor, it is raised in ~lory. It is sown
in weakness, it is raised in power. It Is sown a physi­
Dal body, It is raised a spiritual bod, •. If t~ere Is •
physical body, there is aleo a spIritual body.
These verses not only confirm the previous line of
thought but also are a help in opening new avenues of thought
for symbolic content.
Meaning which may have been concealed
up to now bas no more excuse for being indecipherable.
The
title in oombination with the just-quoted verses give the
viewer all the necessary information needed in order to
the full
underet
tho~e
~ymbol1c
content that is held within
two pieces of soulpture.
doubting, only verification
furniture
~ro
There is no questioning or
th~t
these boxes of dismembered
symbols of plant organisms.
To help inorease
tbls visual r8pr.~.ntation of re~urr.ct.d growth, brown paint
hae been applied to the furniture bed and green has
I1ppl1
to the develoclng
~
it
~urn
1· t
ure oans.
O·.·~
~o· urse
~ w
en
black
and white pnotographe are unable to show the oolor differchange in greys from dark to brighter
~
1.· "!1'ht~
oan be ee211 in the oetail photos of Resurrection 1
1 1l be Holy Bible,
..
68
and 11, (Figures 26 and 28).
cban~.\es
.
Notlo~ partioula~ly the lighter
in some of the uprisin'!8
and "bud \oJA in ~et... 1t
e
the furniture forma of growth are covered
fresher green.
0
~ith
as t'., eroe •
All
tbie lighter,
Their color in combination witb the ver­
ticality of their stanoe, speak of many things.
newness, of baing
rebor~,
flow from this green.
Feelings of
of being restored to life seem to
Hera is hope and faith, renewal and
reeurrection--life newly freed from the bondage of winter.
Notice the contra9t between the verticle greens and the dark
bOI'!zontal browne.
Brown becomes the color of fall, bringing
soon the enoroacbing death of winter.
of both soulptures.
They seem to be littered with the
horizontal dead of last yearfs growth.
horizontal death symbols
spring, there ie no
Notiee the brown beds
r~semhle
su~gestion
They l1e broken and brown upon
Even though these
the furniture-risings of
ot stretch or upward reach.
th~
ground, unbelieving &10
defeated.
The use of brown and green paint is also a help in
the awareness af oertain relationships.
discover!
oloser examination, it is felt that there
!il)
ar~(ul1e 1"'elqti(:H1~blp bett~een the
e~n ~d
Ol"
'1
in the upturned leg of ~ Chippendale, ~
Victori'U'l ch:lir, the fom of
reo
'. 0 fdl1 i
Z Il'l (,~ •
'1
does exist
e!trueturing of pl'.lnts
find eel' t9.i 11 form& ttl r} t c an be round in turn! ture.
ex~rnpl~,
With
plant
C'!!.1
For
en Anne,
easily be
Wl>.I"'.~.'r.··l
l~ced:in thi~ l.lpsiaa- down po~iti'Jnt the
,tva
PO
leg's toot becomes a large bUd, resting on
Ii
slender atem.
From the bUd, the leg begins to swell in curves, movit!g down­
ward in.to a tb i.ok liino heavy trunk.
The leg typifies the
The Duncan Pbyfe, the Sheraton,
growtb mr:nrem,;:mt of a. pl,mt.
the l?rench Pro'l'fincial--in fact,
just about any eeyle can be
found to p09fl1eaa certain cbal'8.oteristice which relate to the
plants' organic form.
Once ag;ain. return to the verses previously quoted ..
"hat is the author's purpose 1.r1 referring to the sown seed-­
tbe tact that it must die before the bod, can rise in the
fasbioning of its kind?
He uses it as a parable.
As the
seed must die before it quiokens to new lire, so muet man's
physioal body dIe before he is resurrected to new life.
Like
the seed bears no 'l'"E'HH3Imblance to its:! radiSiDt ffresurrected"
body, so likewise man'E!! weak and periehable
bod~1'
will have
little or no resemblance to bis perfect spiritual body.
s
~lke
of symbolism beyond tta,t
omss
• symbol of
nHm'@
ot the
plal1t.
This
Tbe dead seed
death and the new body the.t
grOtl>1E'
from it beoomes the symbol of man's new resurreoted body.
r-e :1 S
'l
s ymha 1 i em
vl~u·tiole
level of
B
e first level of
geoond level ors ymbolislfl.
WfiS
th~ t
of th9 gr-o,,,,ing plsn t- ... s ;ymboli ze~ by
Bees of furnittJr'e t~ithin
symboli~m
boIs of hi.
do~
is that of
tl
\'!'It:Ul--tne
qnd resurrection.
botbed box.
seed "1nd
1'\113 second
mt bel
e sculpture then
70
•
rl
d
o
·rt
4='
(.)
ID
s..
~=:
~
.
m{\)
lDN
~
..
~
",C
CD 1::'"
r-4-H
~
. ..
rl
It)
to
'L"'\
~
:J
t'::e
0'0
t\j
.....
•
tL
..
~n ~7.j
C/) .....
""'c:i"
[l':d!'-'
::Jro
..
c1' ••
:::
\.0.)
;:;0
0'. (\)
•
L!l
::c
.~
'1
Q)
Q
rt
.....
Q
~
I'\)
•
•
.
------aa.
CHAPTF1R VIII
CONCLUSION
This thesia has purposely tried to pl'&sent Christian
art that ie origina.lly frash a.nd contemporary.
been an
bone~t
There has
try to oreate ioonography that is new and yet
still theologically sound.
It ie felt that tbe iconography
w1 thin this thesis does acoomplish this.
Such iconography
was created a 0161y upon thG toundQ.tions of scriptural teach­
ing.
Ther~
has been a breaking awa.y trom tl"aditionaHsm.
It is tel t that much tradl tional iconography of tbe church
toda.y haa beoome weak in ita oommunica.tion.
This bappens
when the church lim! te i t~elf to accepting only that which
is tra.dl tional :!ocmograpby:
iconography that depicts its
fOLmdaticm&l beliefa through oonventional themes that
usually
~uprouna
firgt century events.
is restriction of
pt th e ert1 ~ t repsa ting tb9 themes ttla t h a.v@
beoome so f'1f'1!iliru' that one beCOtl'HHI weary ..... ith sLicb repeti­
tion and r-ep(i}tition can only leila to oommunication loss,
t,Jhen tradi tional iconOFa"3.phlc symbolism hu no longer the
It' • t
freetmass or cHlpabili ty to carry the full import O.i 1 0
meesag(\~ to
ioon
anlOGo!'11
world, then 1 t is time to create
CH'Hi
raphy.
'. l~"l'~t,l'an idea of the fall, the
t of aocepting the C~& a
LIn! V~:H'8 ill i
of' Bin and its sfrew ts upon
the \lfO rId and wi tb
0<
75
the desire to point man to his GOd, thia tbesis attempts
to rl'l!al{€~ steps toward creating that new ioonography,Tbe
desire was to express 8piritu,~..1ity and religious feeling
through new s ymbola that oould better relate to man in hie
present world.
Suoh reprEHilentat1 Yea of the spir1 tual tlera
not taken from the pas t.
Tbey were creations that eou8ht to
express a scripturfil wbole.
Emphasis was placed upon the
total! ty 0·1' the \>lord and not upon events normally aseociatad
wl th BibIloal s tory.
tra,tes this.
The art work presented t clearly iIlus ..
Purpose end idea have provided a new direotion.
The symbolic use of' liRbt, the upward reach of e. tree, death
format! ons of bone and t4ood, the
u~ly
disharmonious use of
lina, shape and movement have all oDmbined into one vehieu..
1ar BtrueturlS for a
f'r~ll!b £!pil'"it~al
and emotiOl'H11
eXpr9!13 S i on ..
peft]11y, th1e tbesis will mliJ{e
.'1
emaIl Clontribution
towards ttJ® IS1 9l1iI'ob for Chris ti '1n i conograpby toa t is mean"
ingful W1d
76
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dillenberger; Jane. St:,rlaand Content 1E. Ohi"'letian Art"
Nashville, Tennes see, liew Y01"k: Abingdon Pre&s, 1'96,..
Elgar, Frank •. .Y!.n Goa h •. r~EI1,J York, Wasbington:
erick A. Praeger Publisher!, 1966.
Fred...
Peldroan, Etlm?,:nd Burke. Art a~ Im~I'E!. and Idea. Englewood
Cliffs, r<et-l Jersey: Prentlce- dill, Inc., 1961.
se
Graetz, H" R.. ..!!:!.! S:rmbo1ic 1JWJgu. a
.2£ Vincent Van Gogh.
New York, Toronto, London: McGraw-Hill Book aomp~~y,
Inc., 1963.
Hazelton, Roger. A Theolot>l::ical A12eroacb to Art. Haeh­
ville, 'fenrHHH!ee, i'eH York: AbingdonPrll, 1967.
Holy Bf hle.
ng James Vel's! on"
It
Tr>!llbaut, l'1af'c
Studio Book,
Viking
V!ln Der Leeu'W,
~~~s ~nl~~j:
Sacred lind FrofaJia Beauty: Tbe
bv! lIe, Tennmee, New Y'orln Abingdon
rllrd!J8..
Van Gogh, Vincent..
Com~leta LE'ltters of Vincent Van
Go~b •
i ted b
• ~!. 7 en Gogn • 3 vor~. Gre-snw1oh,
Connecticut! H(H>1 '{ark 3raphic Society, 1959.