by Elizabeth Anne McClelland?
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
ART OF THE BLOWJOB WELL
JOHNSON HOUSE, HANOVER ⎔ MOON AND COW ⎔ MUSKOX ⎔ MYSTERIES ⎔ OXBOROUGH ⎔ VESUVIUS
APPEARANCE
Seen only once from 129:50-130:00.
IDENTITY
As discussed, nothing else I’ve found has come close to this level of similarity. For a while I was considering an indigenous artist like Pudlo Pudlat or Daphne Odjig, but the McClelland piece is just so much closer. Muskox live almost exclusively in Greenland and the Canadian north, so you can appreciate why I would peg an Inuit artist.
Also, McClelland’s work was known for its anatomical accuracy (a common factor among artists in the Overlook), as stated on the back of one of her colouring books. I can’t find much personal information about McClelland, but it seems she had a lengthy career given how that colouring book came out in 1981, and her work was still being used in 2002, the year a book came out using the above muskox image. She would write a book about fellow little-known artist Gloria Plevin, leading me to suspect McClelland lived in Ohio at some point.
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
Anyhow, what we can say for certain is these are muskox, the name for which refers to how the male of the species will give off a pungent sex musk during mating season. The painting/drawing in the film depicts a lone male and female traveling together, so the musk has worked its magic yet again. The bond between mother and child weakens after two years (Danny’s age when Jack dislocated his shoulder), and when the men attract their mates, they can form a harem around them, beating subordinate men to the sidelines of the herd. I mention this because Danny seems to attract other parental figures, and, as I’ve discussed throughout the site, I see this sequence relating to Wendy’s inappropriate conquest on her son. So perhaps the muskiness of the muskox relates to the vibe Wendy puts out (chiefly by showing Danny a sex drama one Monday morning) that she wants Danny to replace Jack.
The muskox is a bovine creature, but I’m not sure if it’s meant to speak to the pillars of Hercules in this moment. Wendy did just pass Moon and Cow, and Polymorphia will be heard when we cut to the muskox, so it’s likely. But I don’t know. A muskox is not a red cow.
It’s cute too that Dorothy Oxborough’s work is right below this and the possible Doris McCarthy in the sex room. That would mean all the (known) female artists in the BJ well were on the side facing the sex act.
Next art reference: Beaver Swamp
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 