by Frederick Horsman Varley
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RANDOM ART FROM THE FILM
ARPEGGIO ⎔ BOMBO ⎔ COMMONERS CROWN ⎔ IRENE REID ⎔ MYSTERIES OF THE BOILER ROOM ⎔ MYSTERIES OF THE OVERLOOK ⎔ MYSTERY KITCHEN ART ⎔ SUPERNATURAL DREAM ⎔ TWO NIAGARA FALLS POSTCARDS ⎔ TONY THE TIGER
APPEARANCE
Seen for a second (2:14:41-2:14:42), as Wendy approaches the bloodfall. This is the last never-before-seen painting to appear in the film.
IDENTITY
I wish I could say I’m 1000% certain this is right, but there’s so much glare and blurriness on the painting in the film in this scene, that even in the frame before this (and the painting is really only discernible for about three frames) it looks like a slightly different painting. This is the frame with the best resolution, and as you can see, it’s got that dark blob in the upper left corner, and it’s got that line of shadow curving down from the upper right in the same spot. Also, I think the dark blob in the lower left is the same. Inside the red box above I’ve inserted a version of the painting that I moulded to scrunch up in the same sort of way as the film version, and I don’t know about you, but it looks pretty darn close to me. The only part that makes me hesitate is the middle region, where the dark mountain shape doesn’t quite pop in the film version the same as it does in the naturally-regarded painting. You can see there’s something going on in that region, but it could look more identical.
FOUR HORSEMEN CONNECTION
Anyway, why I’m confident enough to post about it is because, as readers of my Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse analysis will know, I associate the bloodfall hall with Death, and the appearance of a Frederick “Horsman” Varley painting here means we’ve now got a painting by him in the War, Famine, and Death portals. Which leaves the Conquest portal, where, as of this writing (July 2020), I’ve yet to ID a “Horsman”. This was never a requisite component of that theory, but consider how she sees a warped Winnie-the-Pooh mask person in that well. That would mean we have a “Winnie” in the Conquest well and a “Freddie” (Horsman Varley) in the three other areas. In case that’s too obscure, here’s what I mean: the first thing Hallorann says to Wendy in private is “Mrs. Torrance, your husband introduced you as Winnifred. Now are you a Winnie or a Freddie?” She says that she’s “a Wendy”, but then we do see a Winnie-the-Pooh doll that connects to Wendy subtextually. So we know that she’s more “Winnie” than “Freddie”. But I never knew what “Freddie” was referring to. I wondered if it was some other old fable or children’s story, but couldn’t find anything conclusive. Now I think it might be this: if you read my Four Horsemen analysis, you know that I associate the Conquest Well with Wendy, the War Hall with Grady, the Famine Party with Jack and the Death Hall with the hotel (and everything the hotel stands for). So, everything after Conquest is not meant as a jab at Wendy’s own character. Only the Conquest Well is meant to be that. So, Wendy really is more of a Winnie than a Freddie, because she’s more of a Conquest than a War/Famine/Death.
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
According to this account, the painting was composed in Lynn Valley, showing the Mt. Seymour range in British Columbia, Canada. These two areas are named for men who served to unify British Columbia with Canada: John Linn, a royal engineer, and Frederick Seymour, the second governor of the British colony, both of whom died young, and shortly before (Seymour) and after (Linn) unification occurred. As for name connections, it strikes me that when Wendy’s hears about the “missing Aspen woman” named “Susan Robertson” who’s been lost in the “mountains near Ouray” for “10 days”, she’s watching real-life Colorado newscaster Bertha Lynn, who was one of the first black female newscasters in herstory. That newscast also includes mention of someone named “Rutherford” serving a life sentence for a “1968 shooting”, and discussion of a coming storm that could prove deadly for missing Susan Robertson. In other words, the subtext of the Lynn newscast is all about death.
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
And speaking of death, the word arpeggio comes from an Italian word meaning “to play on a harp”, which of course is what angels are said to do in heaven.
And as for the piece’s title, an arpeggio is when a chord is broken up into its composite notes, which can then be played as repeating trills or as ascending/descending notes, in a pyramidal formation (sort of like the patterns in the bloodrug and waverug). You’ll note if you click here that the way these notes appear on a page is rather mirrorform-esque, and this is the last painting to appear in the film for the first time (6:36 from the end of the film at 2:14:41-2:14:42). Varley’s Stormy Weather happens to be the third painting to appear clearly in the film (at 3:23). And since this piece was painted in 1932, but only showcased for the public in 1937, this 32-37 has a certain arpeggio look to it, riffing on a 237 motif. Like: 32-37-32-37-32-37-32-37
Note too the discussion of arpeggios in the analysis for Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, and how this ties into the Fibonacci aspect. These arpeggios appear in the selection of the song included in the film.
MIRRORFORM SIGNIFICANCE
As for the mirrorform, this piece appears right over top Ullman before it zips toward Watson’s face (or the other way at the end of the film), and then disappearing. It appears right after Ullman asks Jack if the people “in Denver” gave him any idea “what the job entails”. And what it entails is mirrors, repetition, and death. Also, if you read the four horsemen analysis carefully, you’ll recall the bloodfall hall features three paintings that appeared in the War hall, in the same order, which would put Arpeggio in the equivalent spot of the blank wall where Ullman’s impossible window here should be breaking through into. So another part of the job is to not notice the hotel’s spatial trickery, it seems. Pretty cool that it would appear during this, our best view of it.
Next art reference: Unrecognizable Art
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OTHER MAIN PAGES FOR SHINING ANALYSIS
THE MIRRORFORM ⎔ THE BEATLES ⎔ THE RUM AND THE RED
BACKGROUND ART ⎔ OVERLOOK PHOTOGRAPHS ⎔ GOLDEN SPIRALS
PHI GRIDS ⎔ PATTERNS ⎔ VIOLENCE AND INDIGENA ⎔ ABSURDITIES
THE STORY ROOM ⎔ ANIMAL SYMBOLS ⎔ THE ANNOTATED SHINING
EYE SCREAM 