Customer Reviews

Dulac's Fairy Tale Illustrations in Full Color (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Edmund Dulac, along with Arthur Rackham and Walter Crane, is one of my favorite illustrators of all time, so it is hard to be anything but thrilled with this new collection of 55 reproductions of his work. Numerous of his illustrations for "The Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," "The Real Princess," "The Snow Queen," and other classic fairy tales are represented. The illustrations are reproduced on high quality paper. Almost every image is at least 5x7 or 6x8 inches in size and suitable for framing. While I don't usually recommend deconstructing books for their illustrations, this book is well-suited for the purpose and preferable to taking apart an older book for its plates. No fairy tale texts are presented, just the illustrations with their titles and sources. If you are an Edmund Dulac fan, buy one copy to take apart for framing and another one to keep on your bookshelf.

Unfortunately, the poor quality of the reproductions made this a disappointing purchase. I also bought Dulac's Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Cards by the same publisher, and they were beautiful.

I had never heard of Dulac before and ordered his book along with the Rackham collection. I actually was blown away by Dulac's work and am really amazed that after studying in art and exploring classic illustration, I had never come across this guy. I have heard of Rackham and seen his work, but I enjoy Dulac even more...his rich color and beautiful compositions are inspiring.

Looking at the illustrations of Edmund Dulac is like gazing into the center of an opal. The gowns of his fairies and princesses shimmer like reflections of the stars which he spatters across his azure skies. His colors are insubstantial rather than solid so that his figures often seem to float in an other-worldly space, as does Beauty in the Beast's garden. Her feet seem barely to touch the ground as, hands to her ears, she tries to shut out the chatter of the lustrous blue and red parrots, and the iridescent cockatoos that are perched on gigantic hoops, hung from the tall trees behind her (plate 17).

Among the 54 plates, my favorite is plate 25 from Hans Christian Andersen's "Emperor and the Nightingale." The splendid illustration depicts the poor fisherman in his sampan, stopping to listen to the nightingale singing in the trees. Just below a branch, we see part of a thin crescent moon; only the slightest indication of its reflection delineates the sky from the sea (I was a bit disappointed that the editors omitted the haunting illustration of Death, hovering over the Emperor's bed, pausing to listen to the nightingale). I also love the illustration on the inner title page of Princess Sheherazade and her white peacock; and plate 48 of the Young Man on the Firebird discovering the sleeping Princess, in its stylization, is reminiscent of illustrations on Russian lacquer boxes.

As prolific as Dulac was, there are bound to be omissions (such as the Emperor in his underwear parading through the streets; or the transformed Mermaid discovered by the Prince at the foot of the castle's sea-stairs), but with the Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Cinderella; the Andersen fairy tales; the Arabian Nights; the Firebird, and some of the lesser-known tales, "Dulac's Fairy Tale Illustrations in Full Color" represents a satisfying addition to one's library of childhood memories.

Like discovering the vaguely remembered books of my childhood, turning the pages invites an even deeper stare into the smoke and mirrors of imagination... I wish there were more volumes of Dulac's Illustrations. One of my favorite collections from an under-appreciated artist.

So beautiful, Edmund Dulac a superb master of his art, all children should have the pleasure of these stories and illustrations

My life long favorite illustrator, Edmund Dulac's work was a huge inspiration for me. This book has it all. His best work in one neat package.

this book is very interesting , I like the drawings very much, Dulac is a very amazing artist.