The Art of Darkness: A Treasury of the Morbid, Melancholic and Macabre by S Elizabeth
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Description
The Art of Darkness is a visually rich sourcebook featuring eclectic artworks from throughout history which have been inspired and informed by the morbid, melancholic and macabre.
Throughout history, artists have been obsessed with darkness – creating works that haunt, horrify, mesmerise, delight and play on our innermost fears. Gentileschi took revenge with paint in Judith Slaying Holofernes while Bosch depicted fearful visions of Hell that still beguile. Victorian Britain became strangely obsessed with images of the dead, and in Norway Edvard Munch explored anxiety and fear in one of the most famous paintings in the world (The Scream, 1893). Today, the Chapman Brothers, Damien Hirst and Louise Bourgeois, as well as many lesser known artists working in the margins, are still drawn to all that is macabre.
From Dreams & Nightmares to Matters of Mortality, Depravity & Destruction to Gods & Monsters – this book introduces sometimes disturbing and often beautiful artworks that indulge our greatest fears, uniting us as humans from century to century. But, while these themes might scare us – can't they also be heartening and beautiful? Exploring and examining the artworks with thoughtful and evocative text, S. Elizabeth offers insight into each artist's influences and inspirations, exploring the possibility that comfort can be found in facing our demons.
Artists covered include Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe, Francisco de Goya, Leonora Carrington, John Everett Millais, Tracey Emin, Vincent van Gogh, Barbara Hepworth, Paul Cezanne and Salvador Dal, as well as scores more. With over 200carefully curated artworks from across the centuries, The Art of Darkness examines all that is dark in a bid to haunt and hearten.
240 pp. hardcover
17.1 x 3.18 x 22.4cm
Published September 2022 by Frances Lincoln
