Paintings

Death is an event that is very prevalent in art because of the powerful emotions associated with it. Images of death evoke fear and portray one of the most tangible aspects of man; our mortality. There are many ways to imagine death. Some artists use dark colors or unearthly beings such as the grim reaper. Others use images of skeletons to show what our bodies become after death. Skeleton imagery, however, can be seen as a cliché way to portray death. For this reason, skeletal images are not very prevalent in the early art of the 20^th century. Below is an analysis of major pieces of skeletal art from each important artistic genre in the 20^th century.

In more modern works we see a shift away from using skulls and skeletons as carefully placed symbols used to portray inner feelings and social critiques. Images of skeletons in art are sometimes used realistically, as in the x-ray like images of Laura Ferguson’s art. Sometimes, the skeletal image has no symbolic meaning and only serves to imitate real bodies. Current art seems to be moving toward trivial uses of skeletal images. Some meaning can be taken out of the image of a skeletal “Mother Mary,” but little substance is seen in images of skeletal mermaids. The imitation of famous works like the Mona Lisa takes on a rather humorous aspect, leaving little originality on the artist’s part. Skeletons have become trendy images in modern art. No longer are they used cautiously and sparingly so as to have the greatest impact on the viewer, but rather they have become so commonplace that one hardly blinks or gives second thought to an image of a skeleton. In the earlier half of the 20^th century artists were careful to use skulls and skeletons only when it seemed completely necessary to get their point across. Yet now our culture and art have been saturated with these images in every place one could imagine. Body art is another example of the new trends with skeletal images. Skulls and skeletons are used in all different visual contexts, from the extremely morbid to the almost pleasant. Today’s overabundance of skeletal images in all forms of art suggests a newfound embracement of death related iconography.

In more modern works we see a shift from using skulls and skeletons as symbols carefully placed to portray inner feelings and social critiques. It seems that now in the present times, skeletons have become trendy images, at time humorous and “cool”. No longer are they used cautiously and sparingly so as to have the greatest impact on the viewer, but rather they have become so commonplace that one hardly blinks or gives second thought to an image of a skeleton. In the earlier half of the 20^th century artists were careful to use skulls and skeletons only when it seemed completely necessary to get their point across. Yet now our culture and art have been saturated with these images in every place one could imagine.