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  • Denouement: Passage to Elysium

Denouement: Passage to Elysium

SKU: Denouement 1
$9,000.00
$9,000.00
Unavailable
per item

Oil on linen, 60" x 26", free shipping in the continental United States, 1.5" deep stretcher bars with canvas gallery wrap (painting continues around edges). Can be displayed as is or is suitable for framing. This is an original painting. There is only one available.


This painting depicts the mythological journey in the afterlife to the paradise of the Elysian Fields, a land reserved for mortals chosen by the gods. Charon, the ferryman, transports his passenger(s) across the Acheron River. The Acheron, in northwestern Greece, is considered in the Homeric poems to be one of the five rivers of the underworld. Later, the Roman poet Virgil referred to it as the Styx, a name that has remained in the modern vernacular.


The painting works with the inherent uncertainty of what happens after death. Charon and his charge look into the distance. Are they looking forward into the future or back towards the past? If one sees the boatman as standing in the stern, they are both looking back toward the fading, greying world of the passenger’s life and the glow illuminating them from the right would be from Elysium. Conversely, if they are seen as being in the prow of the boat, the glow would be from the world they are leaving and they both look towards the uncertainty of what lies ahead in the afterlife, which is obscured from view.


the ambiguity created by the similarity of the two figures poses the question of whether the passenger is actually both boatman and charge, guiding himself through his own journey. Similarly open to consideration, both figures are in one end of the boat, yet the craft is not tilting into the water. This presents the question of whether there are other passengers in the boat, possibly the viewer.


In this painting, the journey is the denouement of the passenger’s life - the final part in which all the strands of the narrative are drawn together and matters are resolved. From the title, one is left to presume that these and other questions are answered by the journey’s end.


This is one panel of a diptych. The facing panel, entitled “The Hand of Prometheus” continues the theme with the figures we see in “Denouement - Passage to Elysium.” Both paintings are the same size and were painted simultaneously. These, like others in this ongoing series, use mythology as a metaphor for one’s internal journey: the challenges, struggles, triumphs and joys of becoming who we are.

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Copyright © Kristine Poole 2020
  • Home
  • Sculpture
    • Index of Selected Works
    • Word Sculptures >
      • Beauty Will Blossom Again
      • Overcome
      • They Said Abigael was a Witch
      • Telling Tales
      • Wordcage
      • In My Dreams I Can Fly
      • Daskala and Skyla:
      • Mythmaker
      • Reflection: Questions at a Crossroads
      • Words I Carry
      • Anthem: Birth of a Woman
      • The Execution of Lady Liberty
      • St. Palli Grrl
      • Commodity
      • Call of the Muse
      • Scarification of the Feminine
      • Mnemosyne at the EPIC Show
      • Raconteuse
      • The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes
    • Quiddity >
      • Meraki: Born of Clay
      • Awakening
      • Duende
    • Imaginative Realism >
      • Dove Dreams of Flying
      • Beyond Her Wildest Dreams
      • Leap Frog: Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
      • Spinner of Dreams
      • Awaken the Night
      • The Cricket's Tale
      • Golden Lotus
      • Muse Series >
        • Ki An: Muse of Curiosity
        • Oneira: Muse of Dreams
        • Despoena: Muse of Challenges
        • Ktisis: Muse of Creativity
        • Musique: Muse of Music
        • Koketa: Flirtation of the Muse
        • Vega: Muse of Mysteries
        • Psithyros: Whisper of the Muse
      • Chimaera Series >
        • Tiger Man
        • Fauna
        • Hot Diggety Dog and Pretty Little Pussy
        • Spirit Deer
        • Z's Tease
      • Siren Song
      • Birth of the Moon Hare
      • Tiger Man
      • Beach Bunnies
      • The Garden Party
      • Midnight Soirée
      • The Lady Valkyrie
      • The Flight of Saga
      • Amphitrite, Equiina and Satyr's Tale
      • The Nixie in the Pond
      • Poeisis: The New Muse
    • Figurative Mandalas >
      • Figurative Mandalas information
    • Installations Commissions >
      • The Zemp Legacy
      • Flora, Zephyros and The Blossoming of Creativity
      • Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards
      • Lifetime Achievement in Wildlife Conservation Awards
      • The Muse Award
      • Mnemosyne at the EPIC Show
      • Daskala and Skyla: Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Northern NM
      • Opening Band for The Sun
      • Aurora
    • Social Commentary Sculpture >
      • St. Palli Grrl
      • The Execution of Lady Liberty
      • Commodity
      • Crying Out Loud: Seeing Red, Feeling Blue
      • Scarification of the Feminine
      • Bling and The Gleipnir Ribbon
      • Indentured Servitude of the Soul 1
      • Indentured Servitude of the Soul 2
      • Eve Chooses Choice
    • Miniature Sculptures >
      • Bronze Talismans
      • Morning Conversation
    • Other Sculptures >
      • Androgyne Series
      • Chrysallis
      • Wildlife Bronzes
  • About
    • About Kristine
    • Collaborative Works
    • Press
    • Videos
    • Blog posts on Sculpting
    • In The Studio >
      • New Works in Progress
      • FAQ
      • Workshops
      • Care of Fired Clay Sculpture
    • Custom pedestals
  • Shop
  • Contact
    • Links