Artists and Torture

I hate to use the phrase "to beat a dead horse" in this context. But, I know everyone is tired of hearing about torture. It's yesterday's news. In the United States, those who are pragmatic and those who are idealists argue round and round and round. Let's see how artists have explored this subject.

Alas, I haven't figured out how I can use blogspot to artfully arrange my pictures. For a clearer arrangement, view the blog on my website:http://www.laurajeannegrimes.com/laura-grimes-artist-blog.html


Early Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico depicts the torture of the damned in Hell. The demons obviously enjoy their work. At the bottom of the painting, Satan eats the poor, lost souls with relish. This work would have been meant as a cautionary tale to the faithful, of what could happen if they persisted in sin. Angelico was known for the sweetness of his work, and had to find a different approach for this subject. I imagine it was unpleasant for him, and that he was relieved to return to painting the Virgin, the baby Jesus, angels.


Northern Renaissance painter Matthias Grunewald depicts perhaps the most famous torture victim in all of history, Jesus Christ upon the Cross. We are very familiar with the cleaned-up versions of the Crucifixion, the calm, alabaster Jesus, hardly marked, a few drops of blood at His hands, His feet, His side. Here Grunewald shows us something closer to reality. Crucifixion was death by slow torture. The Romans were particular masters of it.


Next, a Dutch woodcut shows "The Water Torture". Was this during the Inquisition? Or were these government officials seeking information? We do not know. The man writing in the book appears quite calm, as he waits for the words of the man being tortured. He is documenting the interrogation, it seems.


Moving on to modern times, this World War II poster starkly pronounces the difference between the Allies and the Axis. Implicit in this work is the assumption that good guys don't torture, only the evil do.

In his graphic novel Maus, Art Spiegelman tells the story of his father, a Holocaust survivor. As he flips back and forth from present to past, we see the lifetime pain and anguish suffered by the father, by Spiegelman's mother, a survivor who commits suicide, and by the artist himself as the son. The Jews are depicted as mice, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs. He had a difficult time finding a publisher for this work. The subject matter seemed so inappropriate for the comic book style. Finally published, Maus won many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize Special Award in 1992.

In his Mercenaries series of the 1980's, the late American artist Leon Golub explored the dark world of those who fight, brutalize and kill for hire. As do the demons in Hell, his soldiers of fortune enjoy their work. We see the camaraderie of men engaged in a common activity. He said of his work: Artists are part of the information process... Visual history is important in providing a record of what is going on – levels of intention, levels of confidence, levels of aggression or control.

Best known for his paintings of pleasantly plump people engaged in light-hearted harmless activities, Columbian artist Fernando Botero also has turned his attention to the dark world of brutality and violence. Here we see a painting of a drug cartel's victims, men, women and children gunned down in the seemingly never ending cycle of violence in his native land. And, a photo of the artist with one of his paintings depicting the events at Abu Ghraib. Fra Angelico was commissioned to paint Hell and was no doubt relieved to return to depicting the Virgin with Baby Jesus, choirs of angels, etc. But, Botero chose these unpleasant subjects as a testimony to the world.


Cambodian artist Vann Nath is one of only seven survivors of the notorious Khmer Rouge prison S-21. About 14,000 people -men, women and children-perished in that horrific place. His skill as an artist saved him. He was put to work doing portraits of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. Now, his paintings expose the brutal torture inflicted there. He has said: But during that whole time I kept wondering if the Khmers were simply destroying themselves. I wondered, how can we do this to ourselves? Is it self-hatred? Are we trying to wipe ourselves from the face of the earth?

What of myself as an artist? I have no political work to show. But, I have treated the subject of the Crucifixion. The work to the left is titled "Through Mary's eyes". As Mary was transfixed in helpless anguish, standing by the Cross, she must have still seen the little boy she loved. Below, we see her crazy with with grief over the lifeless body of her son. No loving mother wishes to outlive her child. And to see him die a slow death by torture must have ripped out her heart. Did she see the coming Resurrection? We do not know.