As a fan of the fairy art of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, John Anster Fitzgerald, John Noel Paton,etc-the "greats" of the late 19th and early 20th century-I have been delighted in the past few months to discover that the Fairy...
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As a fan of the fairy art of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, John Anster Fitzgerald, John Noel Paton,etc-the "greats" of the late 19th and early 20th century-I have been delighted in the past few months to discover that the Fairy Art tradition is far from dead. This book can only be described as lavishly-illustrated. It features 21 contemporary fairy artists,the eldest by far being Ann Mari Sjogren, the grand old lady of Swedish book illustration. Most of these artists are in their 20s or 30s.Most are British or American, two are from Japan,one from Italy. They have each selected some of their own work and tell us a bit about it, also about their background, how they started painting,what their influences are, and how they set about producing a piece. I LOVE hearing about people's influences-I've discovered many artists, writers and musicians whom I dearly love and admire that way. I am not an artist myself so cannot really appreciate the subtleties of the oil-versus-pastel debate, nor do I know about the different sorts of art paper, but the artists here do touch on these details-I imagine this could prove very useful to all aspiring artists out there. The paintings themselves are exquisite.There is little cutsiness. Other than that, it is impossible to generalize.Some artists have been clearly influenced by Rackham, also by the contemporary Brian Froud-spot the gnarled mischievous faces peering out of greenery!-whilst other work puts me in mind of Sulamith Wulfing, John William Waterhouse, Aubrey Beardsley, even. Whilst some of these fairies are benign and lovely beings-lovely for all their warts and crinkles-others are mischievous, cheeky and clearly up to no good ! Amy Brown's fairies are distinctly Gothic, whilst Hazel Brown-no relation-paints fairies who ressemble aliens,with thin bodies and cone-shaped heads. Myrea Pettit paints exquisite little fairies perched on toadstools or in the folds of a rose.I believe there is something here for everybody who has ever enjoyed pictures of fairies, or dreamt of fairies, or even met a fairy, as some of these artists have done. This is the perfect gift,I believe,for a special person in your life.The text is clearly aimed at adults and older, art-orientated children, but the pictures themselves can be enjoyed by people of any age.There is some nudity, but it is so tasteful and in keeping with the atmosphere of the work, it's hardly worth bothering about. Wonderful paintings, interesting text, a book that's lovely to hold, lovely to dip into or lose oneself in.Congratulations to all concerned-I'd give 6 points if I could. Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
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