Making Myths Modern

It’s been said that there’s no such thing as coincidence. If that’s the case, then I have a lot of thinking to do about three occurrences. Two months ago in our Master Class, consisting of art enthusiasts and led by painter Thea Robertshaw, I asked Thea to give us an “assignment.” I thought it would be fun to have a challenge. Now that I think of it, it was something like asking your mom, “What should I draw?” To my delight she said to do an artwork about mythology. I decided to do a shrine to ancient winged figures, powerful beings from all periods of the ancient past that still exist for many today.

The next remarkable chance happening was noticing the show of Max Beckmann. It sparked that memorable moment when I fell in love with his sumptuous orange color. It moved me to add a Blog entry so I could revel in the memory.

And today, I see that Harvard University is presenting Making Myth Modern: Primordial Themes in German 20th-Century Sculpture, and in the exhibit is a sculpture by Max Beckmann. The show’s organizer Solveig Kobernick, says the works “strongly reflect the artists’ personal lives and the turbulent history of 20th-century Germany.”

These artists continued Romanticism’s use of ancient mythology to speak of “deeper truths,” that also represented the artists’ states of mind during difficult political and cultural times. For Beckmann, given the Nazi terror that ravaged German society and persecuted artists, going back to ancient stories may have been an attempt to return to simpler times, or re-discover basic truths that were being so perversely distorted.

Joseph Campbell saw four functions of myth: the mystical function, that realizes the wonder, awe and mystery of the universe and of who we are, the cosmological function that shows the shape of the universe, the sociological function that validates the social order and establishes the ethics and laws of life, and the pedagogical function that shows a person how to live a human lifetime under any circumstances.

What was the motivation for my winged figure object? Flying figures are certainly mystical and magical. What exhilaration there would be to lift into the air and defy the power of gravity. Perhaps the winged figure gives a shape to my hope that there is a connection to a world beyond this one where I can be reunited with lost loved ones, and continue existing in a different form. Maybe it helps me reconcile with the fact that there will always be people who excel in areas that I fumble, and allow me accept my limitations. And, whether I can fly or not, excel or fail, regret or accept, I still have to find out how to live a life filled with abundance, creativity, optimism and joy.