Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
proximity of time. Living as we do on top of this shifting furnace,
we should remind ourselves that they will occur again. As the
Geological Society report asserted, 'It's not a question of “if ” -
it's a question of “when”'. The result of ash clouds and associated
gases flung into the atmosphere by a super-eruption would be
global cooling by up to 5ºc - suicient to cause a new Ice Age,
and freeze and kill the equatorial rainforests.
But Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was not thinking about all
that when he painted his
Vesuvius
(1985) and made the many
prints of this same exuberantly violent image. He takes us straight
back to the late eighteenth century, particularly to Joseph Wright,
in this powerfully blasting image that looks as much like an
upended jet engine as it does Vesuvius. The acrylic paint, applied
carefully within the clearly demarcated areas, has nevertheless
produced lava of its own in the unexpected paint spatters that
fall down the side of the canvas. As well as the general tenor of the
Andy Warhol,
Vesuvius
,
1985, acrylic on canvas.
Image not available - no digital rights
