18 Artists Magazine January/February 2020
Build TUTORIAL
Follow HELEN OH’s step-by-
step demonstration for
painting pomegranates in oil.INSPIRED
BY MYTH
The ancient Greeks often created
stories and myths to explain the
world around them. For instance,
they explained the cycle of the sea-
sons with a myth centered around
the pomegranate. These classical
myths have long stirred the imagina-
tions of artists across all disciplines,
and they continue to do so today.
Before setting up my still life for this
article, I read, for inspiration, several
versions of the myth surrounding
the pomegranate.
In one version, Persephone,
daughter of Demeter (goddess of
agriculture), is fated to live in the
underworld for one-third of the year
after eating a single pomegranate
seed given to her by Hades, god of
the underworld. The Greeks saw
Persephone’s choice to eat the seed
as the cause of winter. In the myth,
Persephone lived above ground dur-
ing the other two-thirds of the year,
bringing a warm climate and fertility
to the earth. Pomegranates are filled
with red seeds, like the one Demeter
ate, resembling garnets. The gem-
stone’s name even comes from the
Latin word granatus, meaning “seed.”Helen Oh is an artist and conservator,
and an instructor at the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago and Palette &
Chisel Academy of Fine Arts. She’s
represented by Gallery Victor Armendariz.Proserpine (1874; oil on canvas, 49¹⁄₅x24)
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti depicts
Proserpine, the Roman version of
Persephone in the pomegranate myth.
COLLECTION OF TATE BRITAINTurn to page 20 for a demo.