Description
Artist’s Notes
BURIAL is based on a sketch Swanson drew in 1978, done from a painting he saw in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He was moved by the painting portraying the entombment of Christ. However, years later, he was unable to find the name of the master artist, the title of the work, nor the year it was completed. Swanson was immediately drawn to the humanity of the figures; the care and concern that was shown for the body of Christ, and a certain stillness and sorrow on the day Christ was taken down from the cross.
Swanson developed the sketch into a finished painting throughout the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. In painting from the small pencil sketch, he slowly added colors and created forms from rough suggested shapes. Having no reference to the original painting, he developed a dramatic scene keeping the themes which he remembered, and which inspired him. As he painted, it became a personal journey for him. There is a contemplative aspect to each of the characters as they try to understand the great tragedy of Christ’s passing.
