American Art: Fabulism and Fantasy
Introduction
This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American Art: Fabulism and Fantasy." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to these articles and essays. The date at the end of each title is the Resource Library publication date.
We recommend that readers search within the TFAO website to find detailed information for any topic. Please see our page How to research topics not listed for more information.
Featured next are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches.
Following online resources is information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.
Articles and essays from Resource Library in chronological order:
Lamar Peterson: Suburbia Sublime (10/9/14)
Donato Giancola: From Middle Earth to Outer Space and Beyond (2/27/14)
Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney (3/8/10)
Fantasies and Fairy-Tales: Maxfield Parrish and the Art of the Print (6/2/09)
Andromeda Hotel: The Art of Joseph Cornell; essay by Therese Lichtenstein (6/26/06)
Flora, Fauna, and Fantasy: The Art of Dorothy Lathrop (2/3/06)
Elegant Fantasy: The Jewelry of Arline Fisch (2/16/00)
From other websites:
Aberrance and Artifice The Norton Collection an exhibit held June 5 - July 28, 2013 at the Haggerty Museum of Art. Accessed December, 2014
Alexis Rockman: A Fable for Tomorrow, an exhibit held November 19, 2010 - May 8, 2011 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Includes online video and press coverage. Accessed April, 2015.
Betwixt-and-Between: Henry Darger's Vivian Girls is a 2017 exhibit at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art which says: "Henry Darger's Vivian girls and the thousands of others in his make-believe world exist in contradictory states; Darger positions these little "girls" somewhere between male and female, both biologically and socially. The Vivian girls' ambiguous gender speaks broadly, and with rich complexity, to culture's polarizing constructions of child/adult and male/female. Darger plays with these polarities and fabricates an extraordinary 'child' beyond nature-capable of defeating bloodthirsty Glandelinians." Accessed 5/17
Beyond Science Fiction - The Alternative Realism of Michael Whelan is a 2017 exhibit at the Riverside Art Museum which says: "Whelan is one of the world's premier painters of imaginative realism. For 40 years, he has created book and album covers for authors and musicians like Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Anne MacCaffrey, Robert Heinlein, Melanie Rawn, Michael Moorcock, the Jacksons, and Meatloaf. His clients have included every major U.S. book publisher, CBS Records, the Franklin Mint, and many more." Accessed 12/19
Donato
Giancola: Adventures in Imagination is a 2022 exhibit at the Huntsville Museum of Art which says:
"Donato Giancola is an American artist specializing in narrative realism
with science fiction and fantasy content. Considered the most successful
sci-fi/fantasy illustrator working today, he creates engaging paintings
that bridge the worlds of contemporary and historical figurative arts."
Also see the website of the artist. Accessed
1/23
Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration is a 2021 exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum which says: "Unlike science fiction, which is based on fact, fantasy presents an imaginative reality built on universal themes -- heroes defeating fire-breathing dragons, angels and demons engaging in combat, and mythological tales of love and loss." Accessed 8/21
Epic Warriors of the Fantastic: Illustrations by Chris Seaman, an exhibit held August 31 - October 28, 2012 at the Canton Museum of Art. Includes description and artist biography. Accessed June, 2014
Fantastic art from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015
Frank Sampson: Art of Magical and Mysterious Fantasy is a 2021 exhibit at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art which says: "The subject matter of Frank Sampson's works, while easily recognizable, resist easy explanation. He prefers that we abandon the search for meaning in his paintings, encouraging us instead to lose ourselves in his visually complex and richly colored canvases. In his works, flora, fauna, and people live in harmonious yet puzzling, enchanting, and sometimes disquieting environments in truly magical and mysterious fantasy worlds." Accessed 8/21
Land of Magic: Artists Explore Make Believe, an exhibit held July 6 - September 4, 2011 at The Lesher Center for the Arts. Texts include press release, interview video and images. Accessed May, 2014
The Marvelous Toys and Fabulous Things Show was an exhibition held at the H.F. Johnson Gallery of Art December 1-17, 2010, and January 5-22, 2011. The exhibition included quilts, sculptures, dolls and dollhouses. Accessed May, 2014
Never Abandon Imagination: The Fantastical Art of Tony DiTerlizzi is a 2017 exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum which says: "With an artistic style influenced by legendary illustrators Norman Rockwell, Arthur Rackham, and Brian Froud, DiTerlizzi's exhibition shows how those visionaries shaped his own magical tales." Also see artist's website Accessed 12/17
Peter Dean: Visions and Fantasies is a 2017 exhibit at the Cape Cod Museum of Art which says: "This Cape Cod Museum of Art (CCMoA) exhibition of Peter Dean's work is a cornucopia of vibrant colorful landscapes, symbols, and phantasmagoria from an artist whose work during the turbulent 1970s and 80s, when abstract art was popular, was largely dismissed, but today seems to have reverberations with contemporary art." - To read more after exhibit closes, go to "Past Exhibitions" section of museum website. Accessed 12/17
Suspension of Disbelief: The Fantasy Worlds of Stella Snead, Barbara Harmon, Frieda Lawrence, Gisella Loeffler, Ila McAfee and Millicent Rogers, an exhibit held Saturday, July 7 - Sunday, October 14, 2012 at the Harwood Museum of Art, University of New Mexico. Includes essay by Jina Brenneman, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions. Accessed January, 2015.
Symphony of Life: The Art of Erin Mulligan an exhibit held March 21 - July 20, 2014 at the Canton Museum of Art. CMA says "The exhibition features many signature pieces from Mulligan, such as "Frabbit Apocalypse," "Fire Breathing Rabbit," "Laser Cats" and others, including the immensely popular "Katywite" series about an "impossibly extraordinary cat." Mulligan's work has been exhibited throughout Northeast Ohio for more than seven years, from Cleveland and Akron to Canton and Massillon (including the Little Art Gallery, Massillon Museum, Transitions Gallery, Market Street Art Spot and Cyrus Framing). She has been featured in galleries in San Francisco and New York, and in 2012 she was awarded Best in Show at the Great Lakes Art Fair in Michigan. In 2013, her "Persistence of Uala" piece was published as part of "Modern Grimmoire," an anthology by Indigo Ink Press." Accessed February, 2016.
Titi, Nunu, and Klembolo: Helena Modjeska's Fairy Tale Book is a 2019 exhibit at the Laguna Art Museum which says: "During breaks in her acting schedule she spent time at Arden writing and illustrating a fairy tale for her grandson, Felix Modjeski, presenting the 147-page bound manuscript to him as a Christmas gift in 1896." Accessed 5/19
Wings of Fantasy: Angels in American Art is an online exhibit, including a thematic slide show, from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Accessed May, 2014
Worldbuilders: Jeff Miracola, Michael Whelan, Donglu Yu and Kirsten Zirngibl is a 2019 exhibit at the South Bend Museum of Art which says: "As the popularity of science fiction and fantasy art has grown, so too has the number of artists creating it! This exhibition offers a small yet stunning sample of artworks by some of today's most exciting artists." Accessed 6/20
Books:
Fabulism: Carroll Dunham, Ellen Gallagher, Chris Ofili, Neo Rauch, Matthew Ritchie by Klaus Kertess. Illustrated, 96 pages, hardcover. Joslyn Art Museum, 2004.
Return to Topics in American Representational Art
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