by Hugh Monahan?
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
ART OF THE LOBBY BACK HALL
BEAVER SWAMP ⎔ BOG OAK ⎔ DECEMBER AFTERNOON ⎔ MAKAH RETURNING IN THEIR WAR CANOES ⎔ MALIGNE LAKE, JASPER PARK ⎔ MIST FANTASY, SAND RIVER, ALGOMA ⎔ MYSTERIES (CARMICHAEL, MONAHAN) ⎔ OXBOROUGH ⎔ PLOVERS ⎔ RED MAPLE
APPEARANCE
Appears in all the same places and moments as the known Monahan piece, except it’s also seen when Wendy passes through the 2nd entrance, on her way to see the dead snowcat, and it’s not seen in the bloodfall hall. So that piece is seen 7 times in 3 locations, while this one is seen 4 times in 2 locations.
4-2-3-7
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
Monahan painted over 3500 paintings, and I’ve been unlucky putting a name to this, if it is indeed his work. I’ve since had the help of Monahan’s close family, who were just as unlucky in pouring through their records. Alas, we may never get this one (barring some chance estate sale).
Sir Peter Scott would be my next likeliest candidate (those are his pieces included in the image above for comparison), but my gut says it’s a twin Monahan.
There aren’t many visible birds in this piece (only 3 are clearly visible), so if it has only, say, 3, that would mirror the number of dogs in Trapper’s Camp, hanging across from December Afternoon in the bloodfall hall.
MIRRORFORM SIGNIFICANCE
Its first appearance is as backward Jack passes it on his way to kill Danny. Forward Jack is saying how Wendy and Danny are “gonna love” the hotel, while standing a few feet from where the painting hangs behind the reception desk area. It then appears 55 seconds later while the doctor is checking Danny’s eyes. This is at 12:14, which is an important moment in the Golden Shining analysis.
The next appearance is 220 later, when the doctor can’t remember Tony’s name, Wendy provides it (and the Monahans appear), and the doctor says, “Did the appearance of Tony happen to coincide with your arrival here?” As she says that, the backward action is the end of Dick’s arrival. I wonder if Danny passing through these Monahans is somehow symbolic of Tony blocking Danny from warning Dick about his oncoming demise.
After all, the Grady Twin Paintings were originally right through the wall from these, in the reception area radio room. And the fake Grady twins act as blockers for Danny’s movements around the hotel.
The final appearance comes 12:14 later (15:55-28:09), as Wendy runs to see the dead snowcat, at which point, Dick is finishing his list of the storeroom’s contents, and gives her a little nutritionist advice when he says, “You know, Mrs. Torrance, you got to be regular if you want to be happy.”
So there’s 55 seconds between the first two sightings, 220 seconds between the second two (that’s 55 x 4), and 734 (12:14) between the final two sightings, a length of time that happens to be the same as the distance from the beginning of the film to the second of the four sightings. A moment (12:14), that happens to be the exact middle of the Golden Shining. Somehow I don’t think I ever considered this before, that the two Monahans, if that’s what they are, could speak to the nature of the Golden Shining, but if they do, and if they relate to the notion of eyes, by way of the doctor scene…then perhaps by studying how the one with 3 birds moves and the one with 24 birds moves, we could gain a deeper appreciation of that other analysis. Especially given how these paintings are across from each other in the lobby (near the lobby bathrooms), and beside each other in the 2nd entrance (to either side of the elevator there). Since eyes are by nature incapable of staring into one another without the aid of a mirror, I’m wondering if that would make the lobby ones more or less evil than the 2nd entrance ones, which look in the same direction, toward the exit. I’m also wondering if them being by different artists would make a difference there.
And since only the one appears in the bloodfall hall, could that speak to the nature of the cyclops, as I explore it in this analysis.
Next art reference: Boy and Girl Knitting
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 