01/05/2023, 16:31 Memento Mori

Memento Mori
1973-1974
Walter Kuhlman

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01/05/2023, 16:31 Memento Mori

de Young
Gallery 016

The phrase “memento mori” is Latin for “remember you must die,” and is a
tradition in the visual arts that dates back to antiquity, offering a reflection on
the transitory nature of human existence. A veteran of World War II who
sketched the wounded and witnessed “the horrible effects of war,” Walter
Kuhlman completed Memento Mori in the final years of US involvement in
the Vietnam War, which resulted in the deaths of some 5 million Southeast
Asians and more than 58,000 Americans.Set against a blue background that
evokes the life-affirming elements of air and water, the painting presents a
study in opposites. Symbolizing both life and its fleeting pleasures, the sunlit
and floating flower wreath seemingly is threatened by the sinister figure of
Death, whose skull is a traditional symbol of mortality. Often placed on a
human head in a celebratory context such as a wedding, this disembodied
flower wreath here evokes funereal associations of memorializing the dead.

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01/05/2023, 16:31 Memento Mori

Artist
Walter Kuhlman (1918-2009)

Title
Memento Mori

Date
1973-1974

Object Type
Paintings

Medium
Oil on canvas

Dimensions
26 x 34 5/8 in. (66 x 87.9 cm); Frame: 27 1/8 x 35 1/2 x 1 5/8 in. (68.9 x 90.2
x 4.1 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Gary Spratt

Accession Number
2009.76

Currently on view

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