Customer Reviews

Fairies in Victorian Art (Drawing Gallery)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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I thought this book had a very complete selection of Victorian fairy paintings, however, the reproduction quality of the paintings was not good. By comparison, the reproduction quality in Jeremy Maas' Victorian Fairy Painting was far superior, but there were less paintings. Having been involved in the publishing and printing of fine art books for years, I was unable to keep this book knowing that the compromised reproduction quality did not justify the "fine art" book price. If you have a critical eye and would prefer to go for quality of reproduction, rather than quanity of paintings, I would recommend the Maas book.

This is the second of only two books that I'm aware of that cover the phenomenon of Victorian fairy painting (the other being the exhibition catalogue Victorian Fairy Painting by Jeremy Maas). Wood covers artists such as John Anster Fitzgerald, Richard Dadd and Richard Doyle, and includes many illustrations (in colour) of works that haven't been reproduced before. My favourite is Frank Cadogan Cowper's Titania Sleeping. I'd recommend investing in this book if you are a fan of 19th century Victorian art.

This lovely book is filled with marvelous, evocative paintings that capture the British Victorian love of the Fae. Yet it is also finely balanced with subtle, accurate & moving historical threads depicting the tapestry of the times and the moving drama of the painters' lives . . . lives that often expose their excruciating conflicts--sometimes quite literally maddening conflicts--between Saturnian religiosity & Dionysian flights of creativity. This book is a magical caravan journey, to be taken over and over again . . .