Gallery 2

Proserpine

THE ROOTS OF FANTASY GALLERY

GARDEN FOYER GALLERY 1 GALLERY 2 GALLERY 3 GALLERY 4 GALLERY 5 GALLERY 6 NIGEL'S GALLERY

GALLERY TWO: FAIRY PAINTING I first came across Richard Dadd's Fairy Feller without any warning in a basement near the Willam Blakes at the Tate in London. It must have been about two hours later that I moved on in a daze. Soon afterwards it was to be seen everywhere thanks to the psychedelic mood of the times, but I've never grown tired of it. Apart from a couple, his other paintings are more in the accepted style of Victorian fairy painting, which was a wonderfully subversive way of celebrating sensuality in those repressed days. As with pseudo-classical sculpture it was an accepted medium for nudity and other forbidden fruits.

Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke Richard Dadd	Bacchanalian Scene Richard Dadd	Oberon and Titania Richard Dadd


Puck and the Fairies Richard Dadd	Titania Sleeping Richard Dadd	Haunt of the Fairies Richard Dadd


Come to These Yellow Sands Richard Dadd	The Artist's Halt in the Desert Richard Dadd


The Argument of Oberon and Titania Joseph Noel Paton	The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania Joseph Noel Paton

GUSTAVE MOREAU, possibly because of his occasional Symbolist creepiness has had an enormous influence on modern fantasy illustrators, helped also by the strong design element of his compositions.

La Licorne Gustave Moreau	Les Licornes Gustave Moreau	Hesiod Gustave Moreau	The Poet Gustave Moreau	Orestes and the Erinyes Gustave Moreau


Jupiter and Semele Gustave Moreau	Semele (detail) Gustave Moreau	Salome Gustave Moreau	St Sebastian Gustave Moreau	Jacob and the Angel Gustave Moreau


St George and the Dragon Gustave Moreau	Hercules and the Hydra Gustave Moreau	Phaeton Gustave Moreau	Poet and Centaur Gustave Moreau	Hesiod and the Muses Gustave Moreau

JOHN MARTIN is a curiously little known painter these days but in the 19th century his paintings were the equivalent of Hollywood epic films and apparently people were known to faint from vertigo when some were unveiled. These copies don't quite do him justice but you get the general idea.

The Great Day of His Wrath John Martin	The Last Bard John Martin	The Assuaging of the Waters John Martin

GALLERY ONE . . . . . . . . FOYER . . . . . . . . GALLERY THREE