The Art Of Fantasy by S. Elizabeth (book review).
When this book, ‘The Art of Fantasy’, first arrived, I wanted to sort out just who ‘S. Elizabeth’ was, and in the indicia, the copyright is for Sarah Walter. Still no wiser, although ‘S. Elizabeth’ does have a Google entry.
Anyway, as it says on the box or back cover, ‘The Art of Fantasy’ is a sourcebook of fantasy art. Even if she’s not quite using the regular veterans, the artwork is stunning and provoking in its diverse styles.
The book is divided into three sections, each having three chapters. Under ‘Beasts & Beings’, the second chapter, ‘Almost Human, looks at hybrids, and it wasn’t until page 52 that I started recognising a few modern names like Boris Vallejo, Pablo Picasso, Julie Bell, and HR Geiger. The odd name appears later. This doesn’t take it away from the other much earlier artists, but it’ll probably reassure you that more recognised names are there as well. With any multi-artist book, getting permissions and costing is always an issue contributing to cost. The Vallejo and Bell pictures are also two I hadn’t seen before.
Under ‘Impossible Creatures’, there’s more work by Salvador Dali; even if his cyclops look a bit feminine, it must be the eyelashes and red lips. A bigger surprise was seeing a magnificent ‘George and the Dragon’ by Paul Rubens as a reminder that many of the early artists actually did fantasy paintings.
It’s an odd thing, but the more I looked at the really old paintings by the early artists and even some grandmasters, it wasn’t like there was much attention in art books. Granted, there’s a certain amount of snobbery from the ‘art critics’ regarding fantasy and SF that they look down on as inferior, yet they are missing out on some truly outstanding paintings, both in design and colour.
The last couple chapters of this book have a slightly more SF feel, simply because there is a certain amount of borderline with both genres. That isn’t to say that there are SF paintings here, but there will be odd artists like Frank Kelly Freas and Bruce Pennington popping up when you least expect them to.
I was careful to read only a chapter a day to absorb the art properly. I’m very good at absorbing art quickly because of my artist’s eye, but I think S. Elizabeth’s captions and observation were responsible for that. The variety of art from across the centuries clearly shows fantasy art has always had a place in our galleries, and we really need more art books about our genre out there, not just with modern artists.
If I have to be critical, then I wish there was a larger version of this book to do better justice to the fabulous art here. However, it is the right size to fit in your large bag to read on trips.
GF Willmetts
March 2024
(pub: Francis Lincoln/Quarto, 2023. 239 illustrated medium hardback. Price; £22.00 (UK). ISBN: 978-0-7112-7995-7).
check out website: www.quarto.com
