July 7, 2021
STOCKBRIDGE, MA—Norman Rockwell Museum (NRM) reveals the initially exhibition of its kind, Enchanted: A Historical past of Fantasy Illustration. The show consists of 100+ operates of artwork made by much more than 50 artists whose get the job done spans over 5 generations, and have never ever before been exhibited with each other.
Several yrs in the earning, NRM curator Jesse Kowalski assembled an encompassing collection of perform to accurately signify the scope and breadth of Fantasy art. Enchanted: A Historical past of Fantasy Illustration explores fantasy archetypes from Ancient Mesopotamia to these days. The exhibition will current the immutable concepts present inside mythology, fairy tales, and timeless narratives of very good vs . evil and heroes and villains. told by means of paintings, etchings, drawings, sculptures, and digital art made by imaginative artists from extensive back to these days. The ageless fascination with Fantasy artwork in well-liked tradition can be witnessed in blockbuster films such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy andtelevision series like Games of Thrones, (and the guides which preceded them), and in job-participating in games Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Collecting. Artworks from all of these great worlds will be incorporated in the exhibition, lots of on perspective to the public for the initially time.
Mythology explores the adventures of Apollo and Thor, the huntress Diana, Perseus rescuing Andromeda with the head of Medusa, and the labors of Hercules. Fairy tales depict the worlds of dragons, elves, fairies, and mermaids, and conjure goals of Little Nemo in Slumberland, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella. Heroes and villains adhere to the exploits of Arthurian legends, Prince Valiant, Conan the Barbarian, and The Lord of the Rings and haunting images of sorcerers and witches, and battles in between angels and demons depict the battle amongst great and evil.
Artists showcased in the exhibition incorporate:
Unfamiliar artists from Ancient Mesopotamia by way of the Renaissance, in addition to functions by Albrecht Dürer, Martin Schongauer, and some others.
Pre-Raphaelite artists: Herbert James Draper and Elihu Vedder.
Worldwide artists of the 19th century: William-Adolphe Bougeureau, Palmer Cox, Richard Doyle, Gustave Doré, Zacharie Charles Landelle, Jules Joseph Lefebvre, and Arthur Rackham.
Artists from the Golden Age of Illustration: Joseph Clement Coll, Dean Cornwell, Rockwell Kent, J.C. Leyendecker, Winsor McCay, Rose O’Neill, Violet Oakley, Maxfield Parrish, Coles Phillips, Howard Pyle, J. Allen St. John, and N.C. Wyeth.
An artwork from Outsider artist Henry Darger.
Pioneers of fantasy illustration: Hannes Bok, Virgil Finlay, Hal Foster, Frank Frazetta, and Roy Krenkel.
Fantasy artists doing work in the late-20th century: Julie Bell, Thomas Blackshear, Brom, Kinuko Craft, Tony DiTerlizzi, Jeff Easley, Bob Eggleton, Larry Elmore, Scott Fischer, Kelly Freas, Brian Froud, Donato Giancola, Gary Gianni, James Gurney, Scott Gustafson, the Brothers Hildebrandt, Jeff Jones, Gregory Manchess, Mike Mignola, Jean-Baptiste Monge, Glen Orbik, Ruth Sanderson, William Stout, David Trampier, Boris Vallejo, Charles Vess, James Warhola, Michael Whelan, David Wiesner, and other individuals.
The newest technology of illustrators: Scott Brundage, Wesley Burt, Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme, Anna Dittmann, Heather Edwards, Justin Gerard, Piotr Jabłoński, Tyler Jacobson, Victo Ngai, Ben Oliver, Karla Ortiz, Anthony Palumbo, David Palumbo, Alessandra Pisano, Annie Stegg Gerard, Justin Sweet, Eric Velhagen, and a lot of more.
Even a unusual Rockwell fantasy operate is bundled, Land of Enchantment from 1934.
Some of the artists talked about over finished unique operate particularly for this exhibition. In addition, quite a few parts in the show on loan from museums all around the nation and non-public collections are rarely on check out to the public–from engravings from the Center Ages to the iconic Black Lotus portray developed for Magic: The Accumulating.
About Fantasy Illustration
Fantasy presents an extremely hard reality—a universe where dragons breathe fire, angels and demons have interaction in battle, and magicians craft spells. As visionary author Arthur C. frazettagirls.com Clarke observed, “Science fiction is something that could happen… Fantasy is some thing that could not materialize.” Fictional and imaginative worlds of magic and journey come to life via fantasy illustration. Myths, legends, fables, romance, and epic battles involving swords and sorcery arise in a world unfamiliar to us. Unlike science fiction, which is based mostly on point.
For countless numbers of yrs, mankind has depicted analogous amazing themes in quite a few cultures. Famous scholar of mythology, Joseph Campbell, claimed that mankind makes fantasy to support us recognize the universe and our existence, delineate very good and evil, and train us how to prosper via adversity. Representations of goals and nightmares, fictional creatures, and gods and monsters are designed serious by visible portrayals in fantasy art. Fantasy illustration interprets the creativeness of the “undiscovered self.”
Accompanying the exhibition will be a 256 web page companion catalogue that includes an introduction by Brian Froud and essays by regarded illustrators and historians will be out there on the net and in the Museum store.
The exhibition Enchanted: A Record of Fantasy Illustration is organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, and will be on watch listed here from June 12 by October 31, 2021. This exhibition will vacation nationally to a confined range of added museums in 2021 and 2022.
