Jess (Collins) American, 1923-2004
One of the Norns Is Dead, 1955/71
oil on canvas in artist's frame
33 1/4 x 47 1/4 in
84.5 x 120 cm
84.5 x 120 cm
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A wedding gift from the artist to Joanna & Michael McClure in 1955. In Norse mythology, Norns are three maiden giants who tend the sacred ash tree at the center...
A wedding gift from the artist to Joanna & Michael McClure in 1955.
In Norse mythology, Norns are three maiden giants who tend the sacred ash tree at the center of the Cosmos, nourishing it with water and wet earth from the well of fate. As their names suggest, the Norns -- Urðr (“The Past”), Verðandi (“What Is Presently Coming into Being”) and Skuld (“What Shall Be”) delineate time. In addition to caring for the tree, they are responsible for the destiny of all humans.
Dominating the right foreground of the painting, one of the giantesses stretches out her arm, as water pours from what is either a fist full of soil, or a sponge dipped in the holy well. The tree, Yggdrasil, the framework upon which the nine worlds are supported, occupies the distance. In a valley between the two, a seated figure, Sif, the wife of Thor, grooms her legendary, golden hair under a sky as sparkling as her jewel-encrusted comb.
Jess broke with his family and renounced his surname because his parents refused to accept his loved one, the poet Robert Duncan. He’d also rejected a traditional “career” (he’d studied chemistry, then worked on the Manhattan Project) to live his life as an artist. So when he made this painting in 1955, the titular Norn -- the one he considered dead -- was the past.
But in spite of the the title, it’s Sif -- personifying family and caregiving -- that is the heart of this painting both visually and conceptually. The ideal of “household” is a central motif in Jess’ and Duncan’s work, and was philosophically foundational to them. Their home together was their haven: more than a place or a relationship, it was rooted in an exchange of ideas, made sacred through art and poetry. And this concept of “household” extended beyond the couple, to their community of poets, artists and friends.
As the Norns cared for Yggdrasil, Duncan and Jess nurtured Art. In this painting, the tree that is the nucleus of the Universe and meeting place of the gods, is Culture -- both rooted in and the framework that supports Civilization. Sif is a stand-in for Jess, the anchor of the household and caregiver of their community.
One of the Norns is Dead, is both an autobiographical allegory grounded in legend, and a benediction given to his newly married friends, the poets Joanna and Michael McClure. It’s an entreaty to live in the now and for the future, and a tribute to the importance of creating family, no matter how it’s done.
In Norse mythology, Norns are three maiden giants who tend the sacred ash tree at the center of the Cosmos, nourishing it with water and wet earth from the well of fate. As their names suggest, the Norns -- Urðr (“The Past”), Verðandi (“What Is Presently Coming into Being”) and Skuld (“What Shall Be”) delineate time. In addition to caring for the tree, they are responsible for the destiny of all humans.
Dominating the right foreground of the painting, one of the giantesses stretches out her arm, as water pours from what is either a fist full of soil, or a sponge dipped in the holy well. The tree, Yggdrasil, the framework upon which the nine worlds are supported, occupies the distance. In a valley between the two, a seated figure, Sif, the wife of Thor, grooms her legendary, golden hair under a sky as sparkling as her jewel-encrusted comb.
Jess broke with his family and renounced his surname because his parents refused to accept his loved one, the poet Robert Duncan. He’d also rejected a traditional “career” (he’d studied chemistry, then worked on the Manhattan Project) to live his life as an artist. So when he made this painting in 1955, the titular Norn -- the one he considered dead -- was the past.
But in spite of the the title, it’s Sif -- personifying family and caregiving -- that is the heart of this painting both visually and conceptually. The ideal of “household” is a central motif in Jess’ and Duncan’s work, and was philosophically foundational to them. Their home together was their haven: more than a place or a relationship, it was rooted in an exchange of ideas, made sacred through art and poetry. And this concept of “household” extended beyond the couple, to their community of poets, artists and friends.
As the Norns cared for Yggdrasil, Duncan and Jess nurtured Art. In this painting, the tree that is the nucleus of the Universe and meeting place of the gods, is Culture -- both rooted in and the framework that supports Civilization. Sif is a stand-in for Jess, the anchor of the household and caregiver of their community.
One of the Norns is Dead, is both an autobiographical allegory grounded in legend, and a benediction given to his newly married friends, the poets Joanna and Michael McClure. It’s an entreaty to live in the now and for the future, and a tribute to the importance of creating family, no matter how it’s done.