Children of 1914 by William Dyas Garnett
- Title: Children of 1914
- Artist: William Dyas Garnett
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Size: 41"h x 66"w
- Added to collection: 2004
- Donor: Purchased by Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ, Rock Creek Campus
- Campus: Rock Creek
- Location: B3/1ÌýN Hallway
Shards of metal, with edges like razors and punctured with holes as if forming a makeshift bridge or gathered into a tangle of unfurling ribbons, span a strange shattered landscape, relieved by one quiet rectangle of cursive script, where below three anonymous figures crouch together.Ìý This painting by William Dyas Garnett manages to poetically evoke the sound of machines, the ruin of destruction and the landscape of grief.Ìý It is an enigmatic and elusive painting whose images seem to bristle like knives before dissolvingÌýback into abstraction.Ìý The surface of this large (41x66") oil painting on canvas is meticulously engineered with an impressive array of textures from the metallicÌýreflective sheen to the delicate handwriting to the thick, evenly applied slabs of dirty blue and blood red.Ìý But what does it all mean?
The title "Children of 1914" comes from a poem by Hermann Hesse.Ìý Hesse (better known for his novels such as Steppenwolf and Siddartha) also wrote a series of moving poems expressing his dread as Germany entered World War I.Ìý One poem, "To Children" is the source of the cursive text in the painting (in a translation from German by James Wright):
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý You know nothing of time,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý You know only that, somewhere in the distance,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýA war is being fought,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýYou whittle your wood into sword and shield and spear
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd play your game blissfully in the garden,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýSet up tents,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýCarry white bandagesÌýmarked with the red cross.
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd if my wish for you has any power,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýSo war will remainÌý
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýFor you, always, a dim legend,Ìý
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýSo you will never stand in the field
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd never die
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd never rush out of a house crumbling in fire.
Garnett painted this in 2001 in the aftermath of 9/11. The twisted shards of metal may suggest the ruins of the Twin Towers and the figures crouched in the lower right could be the first responders. ÌýHesse's poem could just as easily apply to that particular moment in history:
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýNevertheless you will be soldiers one day
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd one day you will knowÌý
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýThat the sweet breath of this life
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýThis precious possessionÌýof the heartbeat
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýIs only a loan...
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd you shall know that whatever is nobleÌý
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýIn your soul is always a warrior,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýEven though he bears no weapons,
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýThat every day a struggle and a destiny is waiting....
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýThink of the blood, the shambles, the ruin
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýOn which your own future reposes,Ìý
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd how... upon death and sacrifice is built
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýThe tiniest happiness.
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýThen your life will flame out more
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAnd one day gather even Death
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýInto its arms.
Ìý
This painting offers an elegy that in 2019 has only gained more powerfully in its sense of memorial for 9/11 since it was painted.