Fantastic art

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Garden of Earthly Delights in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, c. 1495–1505, by Hieronymus Bosch

Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined

mythical or folkloric subjects or events – and style, which is representational and naturalistic, rather than abstract – or in the case of magazine illustrations and similar, in the style of graphic novel art such as manga.[citation needed
]

Fantasy has been an integral part of art since its beginnings,

romantic art, symbolism, surrealism and lowbrow. In French, the genre is called le fantastique, in English it is sometimes referred to as visionary art, grotesque art or mannerist art. It has had a deep and circular interaction with fantasy literature.[citation needed
]

The subject matter of fantastic art may resemble the product of hallucinations, and Fantastic artist

hallucinogenic drugs
.

The term fantasy art is closely related, and is applied primarily to recent art (typically 20th century on wards) inspired by, or illustrating fantasy literature.[citation needed]

Fantastic art has traditionally been largely confined to painting and illustration, but since the 1970s has increasingly been found also in photography. Fantastic art explores fantasy, imagination, the dream state, the grotesque, visions and the uncanny,[2] as well as so-called "Goth" and "Dark" art.

Related genres

Genres which may also be considered as fantastic art include the

Middle Earth mythos unquestionably does. Religious art also depicts supernatural or miraculous subjects in a naturalistic way, but is not generally regarded as fantastic art.[citation needed
]

Historic artists and fine artists

Many artists have produced works which fit the definition of fantastic art. Some, such as

Francisco de Goya, fantastic works were only a small part of their output. Others again such as René Magritte are usually classed as Surrealists but use fantastic elements in their work.[1][5]

Twentieth century

Illustration for The boy and the trolls by John Bauer, 1915

The rise of fantasy and science fiction "pulp" magazines demanded artwork to illustrate stories and (via cover art) to promote sales. This led to a movement of science fiction and fantasy artists prior to and during the Great Depression, as anthologised by Vincent Di Fate, himself a prolific SF and space artist.[6][page needed]

In the United States in the 1930s, a group of Wisconsin artists inspired by the Surrealist movement of Europe created their own brand of fantastic art. They included

American Regionalism then in vogue.[citation needed
]

In postwar

Chicago Imagism produced many fantastic and grotesque paintings, which were little noted because they did not conform to New York abstract art fashions of the time. Major imagists include Roger Brown, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Ed Paschke, and Karl Wirsum.[8]

After 1970, modern western fantasy is influenced by illustrations from

]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Jahsonic, a vocabulary of culture". Archived from the original on 16 November 2005. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  2. ^ (English edition)
  3. ^ "thinkexist.com". Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  4. ^ "From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Comics: Illustrating the Imaginative | Fantasy – BnF". fantasy.bnf.fr. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  5. ^ Larkin, David, ed. (1973). Fantastic Art. Pan Ballantine.
  6. ^ Di Fato, Vincent. Infinite Worlds: The Fantastic Visions of Science Fiction Art.
  7. ^ Krajewski, Sara (1998). "Surreal Wisconsin: Surrealism and its Legacy of Wisconsin Art". Madison Art Center. Archived from the original on 5 December 1999. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  8. ^ Richard Vine, "Where the Wild Things Were", Art in America, May 1997, pp. 98–111.
  9. ^ "The History of Fantasy Art & Fantasy Artists". The Art History Archive. Retrieved 18 December 2020.

Bibliography