by JEH MacDonald
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
ART OF THE LOBBY BACK HALL
BEAVER SWAMP ⎔ BOG OAK ⎔ MAKAH RETURNING IN THEIR WAR CANOES ⎔ MALIGNE LAKE, JASPER PARK ⎔ MIST FANTASY, SAND RIVER, ALGOMA ⎔ MYSTERIES (CARMICHAEL) ⎔ OXBOROUGH ⎔ PLOVERS ⎔ RED MAPLE
APPEARANCE
First appears as Ullman and Watson approach Jack for the tour, way behind them (see below). Again when Jack throws the tennis ball during the mazewalk. The first good look at it is behind to Jack’s left when he’s seeing the ghostball, and then we see it there a few times as different characters go through this passage (Hallorann, Wendy). It finally appears in the bloodfall hallway, in the same order as in the ghostball hall.
In its first appearance Watson is perfectly equidistant from each, and as Jack stands up, he and Ullman eclipse the two. Unless the two Tunnicliffes are Tunnicliffes, this would be the first instance of an artist having two works visible at the same time. And The Solemn Land was the first visible piece in the film.
IDENTITY
We’ve discussed MacDonald before.
Based on a 1920 sketch by the same name, this piece was described by a “later critic as the height of MacDonald’s way of stylizing form.”
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
One of my pet theories about this piece’s inclusion is that it works with a network of clues to reference the Sand Creek massacre of 1864, one of the worst acts of American genocide.
Since it first appears during the first sequence of Ullman and Watson being outside Ullman’s office (crossing the spot where Dick gets axed), it’s interesting that the piece depicts two empty canoes floating eerily in a misty lake. Could this suggest the otherworldliness of these men? Also, Ullman says goodbye to two women who proceed to walk into the building, toward this painting, and thus away from the parking lot. This could have something to do with a much grander theory of mine I call the Tower of Fable, the origins of which are connected to these women, and the other set of two who bid Ullman farewell.
I’ve also discovered that Dick’s office in the kitchen features a photo of the Maid of the Mist floating beneath the Horseshoe Falls part of Niagara Falls. So I’m thinking now that these are connected.
Next art reference: The Ahwahnee Hotel
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
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 