Cemetery Art 3/22/2012

Cemetery Art

By John Thomas Grant

It’s kinda funny how things just spring up on us in life when we least expect it. As a child nestled comfortably in my parents 1963 Chrysler 300 - you know… the one with wings for rear fenders – peering from my private backseat observatory at a world full of row after row of stone and statues, it simply never occurred to me that I was in the enclave of art. That would take nearly 50 years more for the awakening.

Have you ever heard the phrase "what was once old is new again"? Whether you agree with it or not, there is some truth to this adage of old… at least for me. The car windows translucence let me see, it did not help me reason; intelligence and aesthetics, held a flatline partnership. In this abode of the breathless I did not yet understand, nor appreciate the art of the Greeks, Romans or Egyptians; the Byzantine and Islamic influences were foreign to me.

 I cared not for Baroque, the Revivalists, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, or the Moderns; Klingon and Romulan were still a few years away.  I could deduce one from the other as well as I could fathom the periodic table of elements, measure distances to stars via parallax, or mix a martini. 

With the help of a few passionate teachers, and notable mentors such as Douglas Keister, I have come to understand the basic differences in the style of each, and I have applied that understanding to my appreciation of cemeteries. Intelligence and aesthetics took on a life, and appreciation, of their own. I still have much learning to do though, but the art of the ancients is both novel and seductive to me now.  That is because the ritual of death and burial hasn’t changed all that much in the last few thousand years. A person dies, then is buried, and a marker of some material composition is placed on the spot of internment. A Celtic Cross dating from 900 A.D. at Clonmacnoise(Cluain Mhic Nois) Ireland is essentially the same cross that stands in Beech Grove Cemetery, here in my hometown of Rockport, Massachusetts.  

 The Woolworth Mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York, is essentially of the same style of building, including material, which stood in the great ancient Egyptian centers of Thebes, Karnak, Akhetaten and Memphis. 

Get hopping to a cemetery and be transported back in time. See the great cities of the antediluvian world; works from master sculptors, such as – Bartolini, Monteverde, Orengo, Fluxa & Rodin… just to name a few.

Cemeteries are the one timeless constant in our ever-changing world. To know their art, is to know history.

This was a very simple overview. But the art of symbol and design demand your understanding. Your cemetery art will be the beneficiary, your life that much more fulfilled.

In our next meeting we’ll cover the Art of the Emotion.

John Thomas Grant’s first book - “Final Thoughts: Eternal Beauty in Stone” - featuring his cemetery photography, is now available online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or in bookstores nationwide. Publisher – Schiffer Publishing.

John’s work can be viewed at www.johnthomasgrant.com. John is partner with historical reenactor/lecturer, Lisa Griffiths-Lewis, at The Passion Projects, LLC. His email address is – jtgrant19@gmail.com.