When Jennifer Jones made a donation to the Norton Simon Museum of an ancient wood, linen and gesso Egyptian coffin, sized and shaped to conform to the curves of the body it once contained, inlaid with bronze and glass and decorated with painted figures of gods affiliated with the afterlife, it’s unlikely that the Hollywood film star (and Norton Simon’s wife), could have anticipated that her 3,000 year old gift, “Coffin of Tarutu, Singer in the Temple of Amun,” would one day become central to a modestly sized gem of an exhibition, “RIP: On Art and Mourning.” Comprised of 17 works from the museum's collection, it is designed to demonstrate how artists have found meaning in tragedy, creating objects to honor life and comfort the living at times of loss.
The show seems particularly relevant now that deprivation and mourning dominate the news somewhere on a seemingly daily basis. Notable works here include two Egyptian bronze cats, vigilant symbols of domestic harmony meant to protect and guide the deceased in the after life; a death mask of Amedeo Modigliani created by Jacques Lipchitz; Francisco de Goya’s “The Beds of Death” from the series “Disasters of War;” and Andy Warhol’s silkscreen proofs of Jacqueline Kennedy based on source photos taken during her husband’s funeral parade.
