by Frederick Horsman Varley
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
ART OF THE LOBBY
COLORADO POSTERS ⎔ GERMAN POLITICAL CARTOONS ⎔ LOG HUT ON THE ST. MAURICE ⎔ MT. HOOD POSTCARDS ⎔ MYSTERIES ⎔ NORTHERN RIVER ⎔ PAYSAGE D’HIVER ⎔ SOLEMN LAND ⎔ STORMY WEATHER ⎔ TOWER OF BABEL
APPEARANCE
Seen right, then left, of the labyrinth model, near the hotel entrance — the model moves, not the painting. When Jack arrives for the interview and calls Wendy about getting the job, it’s to the right. After that it’s to the left.
IDENTITY
Varley was another one of the Group of Seven who started as a war artist, and that’s how he met fellow famed Canadian artist Maurice Cullen (like St. Maurice?).
He studied in Antwerp at the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts. Bruegel the Elder lived in Antwerp for 9 years, moving to Brussels the year he painted The Tower of Babel, after becoming married (though it seems he created this painting in Antwerp).
He documented through his art the Hundred Days Offensive in WWI, and I hate to be an incredible nerd (no I don’t), but as we’ve already discussed, Jack’s interview with Ullman likely takes place on September 23, which is the 100th day before the end of the year (though Jack will die 18 days before New Year’s).
Varley’s full name is Frederick Horsman Varley, and my four horsemen of the apocalypse analysis covers Wendy’s final four flights through the hotel, two of which involve her passing through the lobby where this hangs, and the last of which features her passing through a space with numerous lobby likenesses. Making this connection was actually how I ID’d one of the most obscure pieces in the film, a second Varley piece, and the last new painting to appear, during Wendy’s final moments inside the hotel.
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
Debuted in 1921, same as The Solemn Land. Same as the year photo Jack’s trapped in.
Varley’s only landscape before moving to BC in 1926 — a “gesture of symbolic solidarity” with the Group of Seven (Go7). He would paint many other landscapes in the ensuing decades. So, of the three Go7s in the main part of the lobby, one is by the founder who grew estranged (MacDonald), one had to leave the group to do what the group was known for (Varley), and one is by an honourary, retroactive member (Thomson). Perhaps this reminds us of the Beatles somewhat.
Stormy Weather was also the name of a classic Billie Holiday song, the lyrics of which broadly speak to Jack’s state of mind and being. Wendy sings a Holiday song to herself in the novel without being able to remember who it was by (was it Holiday or Peggy Lee, she wonders). Holiday lived something of a tragic life, hounded by racist authorities, so perhaps the fact that this painting faces directly at the spot where Hallorann takes the axe to the chest is not a coincidence.
GEOGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE
The titular bay was named for King George IV by French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who also happened to name the river that the first painting inside room 237 features: St. John river. So far, these are the only artworks I know of with this connection, and I think it’s interesting that these are both the names of members of the Beatles. A nearby painting features a Mt. Paul (named by Mary Schaffer). That would leave us wanting a painting of some natural phenomenon named Ringo or Richard. So far we’ve got a bay, a river and a mountain, so maybe it could be a Richard Hill? A Ringo Plateau? There’s lots of options, really.
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
The painting hangs above the centre of the model labyrinth, which is symbolic of where Jack dies (during some stormy weather).
Also, as Jack passes the lobby the first time, the camera almost completely hides Krieghoff’s second painting in the room, Paysage d’hiver, behind this pillar. The Tower of Babel piece was very obscure in its first appearance as well, so we’re only getting Go7s here, and nothing that twins. In fact, the hotel staff lady here is standing in front of the CAMERA WALK sign, obscuring the fact that this sign contains the same “summer” photo of Mt. Hood that we’ll see in a second when Jack walks into Ullman’s office.
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 