YET ANOTHER HIDDEN TREASURE IN THE SHINING

I must confess that, after decades of repeated viewings and years of obsessive analysis, I thought I was done coming across anything new and surprising in The Shining. Boy, was I wrong. For today, I have come across an almost personal connection to The Shining in the form of an artist whose work Kubrick managed to surreptitiously sneak throughout the Overlook hotel and elsewhere in the Shining universe.

The artist in question is Alex Colville, a Canadian artist who was educated at a small but prestigious Maritime undergraduate university called Mount Allison… the very school from which your humble blogger graduated with a B.A. in English and Philosophy in 1993… the very year that Colville’s early works and war art were exhibited at the university's own Owens Art Gallery before being sent out on a nationwide art tour! Indeed, Colville was present, acknowledged and honored during that year’s convocation ceremonies, and I got to shake the great man's hand. I even spent four out of my five years at "Mount A" living in an all-male dorm (Trueman House) that had a meeting hall featuring a huge mural painted by Colville.

See the essential Overlook Hotel blog for more information about where and how 4 of Colville’s paintings can be found hidden throughout The Shining. As for why Kubrick chose to highlight this artist’s work in his film… your guess is as good as mine.