Synopses & Reviews
When Henry Darger died in 1973 at the age of 81, he left behind an astonishing cache of art, shocking in both its content and its sheer size. The trove included massive, multi-volume illustrated manuscripts, double-sided nine-foot-long watercolor murals, photo-enlarged tracings, and hundreds of sketches. Depicting a turbulent world, these works are the product of the fertile yet tormented imagination of a secretive Chicago janitor who has since been recognized as one of the supreme self-taught artists of the 20th century.
Cataloguing in full color the American Folk Art Museum's recent acquisition of 37 paintings, among other Darger works, this informative yet affordable volume offers a general introduction to a controversial self-taught artist.
Review
"While it is nicely illustrated with more than 100 of Darger's drawings, [this volume] pales in comparison with Michael Bonesteel's Henry Darger: Art and Selected Writings, a richer, much more readable book....With most of its only ten pages of text written in a flowery and pretentious tone, this book should not be considered a necessary purchase." Library Journal
About the Author
Brooke Davis Anderson is director and curator of the Contemporary Center at the American Folk Art Museum, New York.
Michel Thevoz is director of Collection de l'Art brut, Lausanne, Switzerland.
John Parnell is a well-known still-life photographer.