I can't really give you any specific artists, but I suggest studying up on "vanitas". (more for death than murder)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanitas

It's a type of symbolic art that often portrays/suggests or reminds the viewer of death. I find some of the pieces extremely interesting. My favourite is The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger:



The figure on the bottom is a distorted skull, you can see it clearly if you look at it from the right angle.

posted Jun 20, 2010

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I dunno about it being the "main" concept for particular artists, but many are well-known for pieces that expound on it.

Anish Kapoor would be a good one for this, if you want some 3D stuff... considering his are absolutely massive installations.

Marsyas, 2002
Based on the Greek myth of Marsyas, who was a satyr that challenged Apollo to a music contest and lost... so his punishment was being flayed alive. The myth itself and other sculptural art relating to it is a pretty good thing to go on as well, there are Classical as well as Renaissance Baroque depictions of Marsyas and his death.

Speaking of Classical representations, there are some interesting sculptures of dying Gallic warriors defeated in battle, marble Roman copies of Greek originals (probably bronze):
Dying Gaul:


Gaul Killing Himself and his Wife (probably as a last resort to escaped being ruled over by the conquerors):




Murder/death as a political tool... that super famous painting, The Death of Marat, by Jacques-Louis David:

Considering how effing idealized a portrat of Marat this is... the dude was physically diseased, known for being fairly hideous in appearance and demeanor.

More modern and figural:


Tumbling Woman, from 2002, by Eric Fischl, an overall representation of victims who jumped or fell to their deaths from the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. This particular one stirred quite a bit of shit, as well:
cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/19/national/main522528.shtml

Thiiiiis is a great murder piece, Myra by Marcus Harvey:

At first it just appears to be a fairly blurry-looking painting of Myra Hindley, one of the culprits of the 1960s Moors murders, of which the victims were children. The painting is actually HUGE, and the reason it's blurry is because it's made up of a sort of gradient of child-like handprints:


Aaaaand just because I had to write a paper on this, and it's a really awesome painting as well (and a bit historically inaccurate):

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, by Paul Delaroche.

posted Jun 21, 2010

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argh thankyou soo much... so much information will defiantly include something of jacques louis david :)

posted Jun 21, 2010

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