Fantastic art is a broad and loosely definedartgenre.[1] It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter—which portrays non-realistic, mystical,mythical orfolkloric 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 ofgraphic novel art such asmanga.[citation needed]
Fantasy has been an integral part of art since its beginnings,[2] but has been particularly important inmannerism,magic realist painting,romantic art,symbolism,surrealism andlowbrow. In French, the genre is called lefantastique, in English it is sometimes referred to asvisionary art,grotesque art ormannerist art. It has had a deep and circular interaction withfantasy literature.[citation needed]
The subject matter of fantastic art may resemble the product of hallucinations, and Fantastic artistRichard Dadd spent much of his life in mental institutions.Salvador Dalí famously said: "the only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad".[3] Some recent fantastic art draws on the artist's experience, or purported experience, ofhallucinogenic drugs.
The termfantasy 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, thegrotesque, visions and the uncanny,[2] as well as so-called "Goth" and "Dark" art.
Genres which may also be considered as fantastic art include theWeltlandschaften or world landscapes of the Northern Renaissance,Symbolism of theVictorian era,Pre-Raphaelites, theGolden Age of Illustration,[4] andSurrealism. Works based on classical mythology, which have been a staple of European art from theRenaissance period, also arguably meet the definition of fantastic art, as art based on modern mythology such asJ.R.R. Tolkien'sMiddle 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]
Many artists have produced works which fit the definition of fantastic art. Some, such asNicholas Roerich, worked almost exclusively in the genre, others such asHieronymus Bosch, who has been described as the first "fantastic" artist in the Western tradition,[2] produced works both with and without fantastic elements, and for artists such asFrancisco de Goya, fantastic works were only a small part of their output. Others again such asRené Magritte are usually classed as Surrealists but use fantastic elements in their work.[1][5]
The rise offantasy andscience fiction "pulp" magazines demanded artwork to illustrate stories and (via cover art) to promote sales. This led to a movement ofscience fiction andfantasy artists prior to and during the Great Depression, as anthologised byVincent Di Fate, himself a prolific SF andspace 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 includedMadison, Wisconsin-based artists Marshall Glasier, Dudley Huppler andJohn Wilde; Karl Priebe ofMilwaukee andGertrude Abercrombie ofChicago. Their art combined macabre humor, mystery and irony[7] which was in direct and pointed contradiction to theAmerican Regionalism then in vogue.[citation needed]
In postwarChicago, the art movementChicago Imagism produced many fantastic and grotesque paintings, which were little noted because they did not conform to New Yorkabstract art fashions of the time. Major imagists includeRoger Brown,Gladys Nilsson,Jim Nutt,Ed Paschke, andKarl Wirsum.[8]
After 1970, modern western fantasy is influenced by illustrations fromConan the Barbarian andThe Lord of the Rings,[9] as well as popular works of SF and fantasy like therole-playing gameAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons or the FrenchHeavy Metal magazine.[citation needed]
