European Illustrations
34 works: 20 artists: 15 countries: spanning from 1863 to 1984
Images of mischievous satyrs, ethereal mermaids, and spell-casting witches in published tales of horror, adventure, and fantasy- from Don Quixote and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to works by Edgar Allan Poe and H.G. Wells.

Aubrey Beardsley (British, 1872-1898) 1894 Pen and ink 5 x 3" E.1.1 Originally published in Le Morte d'Arthur, by Thomas Malory, London: Dent, 1894, Book X, Chapter 19, "How Sir Lamorak Jousted with Sir Palomides, and Hurt Him Grievously"

Wladyslaw T. Benda (Polish, 1873-1948) 1917 Charcoal on paper 27 x 38” The Army of the Dead is an unusual work for Benda, who rarely worked with outright fantastic themes. It was produced at the outbreak of World War I as a recruiting poster for the Polish army, and depicts a legendary Polish cavalry brigade. It appears, however, that it was deemed too extreme and grotesque by the commission, as no record exists of the poster having been produced.

Harry Clarke (Irish, 1889-1931) 1919 Pen and ink 9 x 7" E.2.1 "Nor had I erred in my calculations- nor had I endured in vain. I at length felt that I was free..." Originally published in Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe for the story "The Pit and the Pendulum" published by G.G. Harrap & Co.: London, 1919.

Harry Clarke (Irish, 1889-1931) 1925 Pen and ink, watercolor 12 x 9" E.2.2 "Dearest and best, with my whole heart I love thee." Frontispiece for Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1925.

Harry Clarke (Irish, 1889-1931) 1919 Pen and ink 13 x 10" E.2.3 "Upon the bed, before the whole company, there lay a nearly liquid mass of loathsome- of detestable putridity." Originally published in Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe for the story "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.,1919.

Gustave Doré (French, 1832-1883) 1863 Pen and ink 10 x 8" E.3.1 Scene 2: The enchanted Garden of Dulcinea Fairies appear surrounded by gnomes, and Don Quixote finds himself dressed in shining armor. Then comes a succession of fearsome monsters, the last being a gigantic spider, who spins a web. The knight attacks the spider, which he slashes in half with his sword. At the same moment the spider's web vanishes to reveal a beautiful garden. At the entrance stand Dulcinea, surrounded by Dryads.

Edmund Dulac (French 1882-1953) 1908 Watercolor, gouache and black ink on paper ~17 x 11" E.4.1 Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade Both doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell Burthen Ding-Dong Hark! now I hear them, --Ding-dong, bell. -Shakespeare, William. The Tempest, Act I Scene II v. 396

William R. Flint (Scottish, 1880-1969) 1910 Watercolor, glazed 9.75 x 12.75” E.5.1 A Monody: O' easy access to the hearer's grace / When Dorian shepherds sang to Proserpine! / For she herself had trod Sicilian fields / She knew the Dorian's water's gush divine, / She knew each lily white which Enna yields, / Each rose with blushing face! Originally published in The Scholar Gipsy * Thyrsis, a poem by Matthew Arnold, London: Philip Lee Warner, 1910, illus. p. 55.