Title: Fairies in Victorian art /
Authors: Wood, Christopher,
Date: 2000
Publisher: Antique Collectors' Club,
Physical description: 191 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 28 cm
Language: English
LC classification: N
Abstract: "Victorians desperately wanted to believe in fairies. Representing escape from the reality of an unromantic, materialistic and scientific age, fairies also gave Victorians an excuse to express in acceptable ways the repressed and subconscious aspirations of a nation. Between 1840 and 1870, the golden age of fairy painting, artists expressed these longings and aspirations, as well as reflecting those of a wider Victorian audience." "Christopher Wood, a leading expert on Victorian art, takes us into a world of fantasy, magic, ghouls and ghosts, spiritualism and psychology. In discussing the fascination with fairies, he examines the impact of literature (notably A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest), dance and music on the paintings of the period, and shows how the Victorian art world found an acceptable outlet for portraying taboos like nudity, eroticism, opiates, and the world of the supernatural."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents: Origins -- Fairy literature -- Fairy theatre -- Fairy ballet -- Fairy music -- The early victorians -- Robert Huskisson -- Richard Dadd -- Joseph Noel Paton -- John Anster Fitzgerald -- Richard Doyle and Charles Altamont Doyle -- Lesser fairy painters -- The Pre-Raphaelites and fairies -- Fairy illustrators 1850-1900 -- Arthur Rackham -- Fairy illustrators after 1900.
Notes: Illustrated end papers.
Subject headings (LCSH): Art, British--19th century--Themes, motives.; Art, Victorian--Great Britain--Themes, motives.; Fairies in art.; Painting, British--19th century--Themes, motives.; Painting, British--19th century.; Painting, British.; Painting, Victorian--Great Britain--Themes, motives.; Painting, Victorian--Great Britain.