Echoed a thousand times over, these traits have re-emerged in today’s world of science fiction and fantasy illustration. Pick up any fantasy novel, and you’re likely to see a dragon rearing back on the cover, impressive in its ferocity and noble in its stature and grace. These attributes were handed down from days long past. Features as subtle as the scales, teeth, and claws were influenced by nature. The elaborate arch of the head, the serpentine twist of the scaly body, the plume of smoke, in reality a few scribbles in ink, convey a great deal in Leonardo’s drawing. But it is these features that strike the heart of the viewer in today’s most popular illustrations. At first glance, it may seem obvious that there lies an important link to the past: that artists of today look to the work of the past for inspiration. But it could be argued that the antecedents of today’s “art fantastique” laid the groundwork through striking composition, rich color, and technical mastery that was once employed to please the nobility and the church. Leonardo was just one of a handful whose influence can be seen in the popular art and illustration of today.
{mosgoogle left}The bronze equestrian statue by Donatello of Erasmo da Narni, and Andrea del Verocchio’s statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni, are brought to mind in the fearsome, statuesque form of Frank Frazetta’s “Death Dealer.” The first large-scale bronze work since antiquity, Donatello’s statue of the Venetian general must’ve been an imposing sight to the people of Padua. Likewise, the monumental quality and imposing form inherent in the “Death Dealer” drew viewers to pick up volumes of American Artist and Flashing Swords, both of which featured Frazetta’s masterpiece. Even more striking is the cover to a Forgotten Realms Adventure painted by Clyde Caldwell.  “Allisa of the Mists” shows a female warrior, heavily armored, sitting astride an equally impressive unicorn. The solid handling of paint and the stillness of the scene evoke power and nobility in the same way that statues of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD and Erasmo da Narni in 1440 AD would’ve struck awe and respect into the general public as they walked past.
Turning back to the world of painting, it is remarkable that Francisco Goya’s masterpiece, “The 2nd of May,” is not referenced more often in today’s art. Echoes of the frantic motion and smoky atmosphere of the work can be seen in Frazetta’s painting of the Huns. Likewise, the same powerful interplay of locking forms and wild motion expressed in Goya’s masterpiece can be found in Donato Giancola’s depiction of “Faramir at Osgiliath”. The cluster of soldiers and infantry plow into the oncoming horde of orcs. The motion, although carried forward, is broken by the gestures and turned heads of the warriors. Likewise, the “Victory and Death of Decius Mus in Battle” painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1617 holds the same weight and monumental focus as “Alexander the Great,” another modern work by Donato Giancola.
19th century art is also a constant source of inspiration for today’s artists. In the works of both Brom and Kinuko Y. Craft, the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites and Realists, who dealt with similar fantastical themes (fairies, knights and maidens, etc.), investing them with an eerie and poetic quality, is clear. Likewise Brom’s art has the same quality as the works of Victorian artists such as William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, Brom’s “Lost Note” and “Ghoul Queen” in particular, with their monumental female figures set against a dark background, convey the strange somber mood of the Victorian masters. In the work of Kinuko Y. Craft, the comparison is even greater. “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cymbeline” evoke the same grace and glowing aura that is found in works by Lord Leighton and William Bouguereau. Leighton’s painting of “Flaming June” has a girl adorned in flowing orange robes and reclining in a position not unlike the seated pose of “Cymbeline.” In both works, the light takes on a supernatural quality that highlights the extraordinary nature of the subject. The play of light on the folds of cloth, the glint of a bracelet, the curling locks of hair, all work together to pull the viewer in and create a sense of peace, calm, and tranquility.
Through time, it has become more apparent that Fantasy art is a tradition–certain subjects conveyed in such a way as to showcase their power and majesty, as in the depictions of dragons by Leonardo, Rubens, Whelan, and Lockwood. When the women depicted in paintings by Millais, Hunt, Craft, and Brom show grace and allure, it is due in part to a shared visual language that has been around for centuries. Consciously or only subconsciously, these works draw the viewer in and enrich the way we view the world around us and our wildest imaginings.
“Any great work of art revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world — the extent to which it invites you in and lets you breathe its strange, special air.”
– Leonard Bernstein (1918-90), American conductor, composer
Article by Leo Winstead.
