David Steindl's "The Death of Reason Can We Stop Ourselves"

Artist Statement

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Jacques Louis David’s 1787 painting "The Death of Socrates" visualizes the moment of Socrates’ execution, and I decided to use this story and imagery to show the timelessness of the climate change crisis. The Athenian Senate punished Socrates, one of the founders of Western philosophy, for corrupting the city’s youth by promoting logic over dogma. Today, scientists continually explain the empirical evidence and impending danger of climate change, yet governments, businesses, and the everyday person alike rarely take action towards necessary changes. My piece attempts to illustrate the ways in which history repeats itself, and in which humanity remains willfully ignorant. We – as a species – are so bound by our own psychology and preconceptions that our inability to have foresight and adapt accordingly becomes harmful and masochistic.

"The Death of Reason (Can We Stop Ourselves??)" prompts the viewer to consider a connection between this ancient story and the current moment. Oil paint is particularly suited to this task because it has been a consistent staple of Western art for centuries. However, I chose to differ from the 1787 original by using looser brushwork, a less natural color palette, and more dramatic light; the resulting image becomes a dreamlike harmony of classical and modern elements. I borrowed Jacques Louis David’s distinctly neoclassical figures and painted water rising around their feet to demonstrate that our struggle to adapt to issues greater than ourselves is as old as culture itself. Climate change may be a new threat, but contemporary people and our tendencies are not so different from the past. With the looming existential threat of climate change, now is the time to think further than our immediate surroundings for the benefit of our collective future. Today’s audiences often consider the ancient Athenians foolish for executing one of their brightest minds. What will the future think of us?

Materials Used

Oil on canvas, 30in height x 40in width