HP Lovecraft by Virgil Finlay, 1937.
Category: {fantasy}
Fantasy
Cryptozoology
Left: Ondina (2005). Right: Pinguish (2003).
Artworks by Walmor Corrêa.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Insect Lab
• The art of Jessica Joslin
• The Museum of Fantastic Specimens
The art of Erik Desmazières
La Place Désertée (1979).
Yet another French artist specialising in etchings with a focus on imaginary architecture. No dedicated website, unfortunately, so I’ve posted more images than usual. Of note is Desmazières’ illustrated edition (now out of print) of the Borges’ ficcione, The Library of Babel, published by Les Amis du Livre Contemporain in France and David R Godine in the US.
Erik Desmazières was born in Rabbat, Morocco, son of a French diplomat. He spent his childhood in Morcco, Portugal, and France. Desmazières studied at the Institute d’Etudes Politique, political science and took an evening art course at the Cours du Soir de la Ville. After graduation he decided to pursue a career as an artist.
Considered to be one of the finest printmakers of his generation, Desmazières was strongly influenced by artists such as Giovanni Piranesi and Jacques Callot. Erik Desmazières work is represented by galleries in Europe, the United States, and Japan and is collected by important museums worldwide.
Update: Erik Desmazières at Velly.org.
Exploration (1984).
Edward Whittemore
A decade after his death, with all his books back in print, Edward Whittemore remains pretty much off the literary radar.
Whittemore was an ex-CIA agent who made the people, history and landscapes of the Middle East the subject matter of a series of remarkable novels. His books aren’t always fantasy (although they were often marketed as such) yet they contain fantastical elements; they’re frequently comic yet contain moments of pure horror; they’re witty, sexy, incredibly inventive and quite unique. They also provide another example of genre readers and writers nurturing the memory and reputation of an author the wider literary world has never heard of. Michael Moorcock and Jeff VanderMeer have both spoken highly of Whittemore in recent years and with the republication of his books in 2002 he now has access to a new generation of readers.
Anne Sydenham’s Whittemore site, Jerusalem Dreaming, has just moved to a new location and is an excellent source of information about the man and his work.
The Codex Seraphinianus
It had to happen…the entirety of Luigi Serafini’s masterpiece (US edition, 1983) scanned and Flickr-ised for your viewing pleasure.
See also
• The unofficial Codex site
• My 2002 article about the book
• Giornale Nuovo
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The fantastic art archive
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Tressants: the Calvino Hotel
• Surrealist cartomancy