Fantasy & Surrealism
The Idea of fantasy
and surrealism has
been around as long
as man has. As long
as there is R.E.M.
during sleep there will
exist fantasy in art and
literature.
Sculptures from Greece, c. 1500-400 BC.
The full circle

Boris Vallejo
Today, the world of
Fantasy/Science Fiction
and Surrealism is wide
open. We can utilize the
Myths and Mythologies
of past, present and the
fantasies of the future to
give rise to the
illustrations and
drawings of anything on
our minds.
Jan van Eyck:
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish
painter who along with Robert
Campin was the founder of the
Ars Nova ("new art") of 15thcentury northern late Gothic
painting. This style heralded the
Renaissance in northern Europe.
This period of Netherlandish art is
characterized by a naturalistic
style of vivid oil colors,
meticulous detail, accurately
rendered textures, and the
illusion of three-dimensional
space on a two-dimensional
surface. This effect is call
atmospheric perspective. This
particular piece is thought to be
Jan's self portrait. It contains a
lot of Jan's proposed personality
and the frame is signed and
dated containing his personal
motto, Als ich chan ("The best I
am capable of doing"). This
motto illustrates the humanist
spirit that an artist excepts
himself and is proud to display it.
Man in a Red Turban, 1433, 10 ¼” X 7 ½”
Jan van Eyck

Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini, a merchant from
Lucca and a frequent visitor to Bruges, and his
wife Giovanna Cenami. The signature on the
back wall in latin- 'Jan Van Eyck was here, 1434'
- and his reflection in the mirror has led many to
believe that he was a witness to their marriage.
The carving of Saint Margaret, the patron saint of
childbirth, on the bed, and the presence of the
dog - a traditional symbol of faithfulness accentuate the marital theme.
Jan Van Eyck is where
the term Iconography
comes from.

An Icon is a picture
symbol used to
convey meaning or an
idea. Like the little
pictures on your
computer telling you
what a program or file
is.
The marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and his bride
Giovanna, Oil on wooden panel, 1434
Can you find
4 people?

Jan painted
himself and
the priest
into the
picture as
symbolic
witnesses to
this holy
union.
Hieronymus Bosch, 1450 – 1516. Triptych of the Garden of
Earthly Delights. Creation of Eve (left wing), Garden of Earthly
Delights (center), Hell (right wing). Oil on wood

Bosch's most famous and
unconventional picture is The
Garden of Earthly Delights
which, like most of his other
ambitious works, is a large, 3part altarpiece, called a
triptych. This painting was
probably made for the private
enjoyment of a noble family.
It is named for the luscious
garden in the central panel,
which is filled with cavorting
nudes and giant birds and
fruit. The triptych depicts the
history of the world and the
progression of sin. Beginning
on the outside shutters with
the creation of the world, the
story progresses from Adam
and Eve and original sin on
the left panel to the torments
of hell, a dark, icy, yet fiery
nightmarish vision, on the
right. The Garden of Delights
in the center illustrates a
world deeply engaged in sinful
pleasures.
Bosch, 1500 AD

One of my favorite panels is
the right one. It depicts
Bosch’s concept of Hell and the
odd things that we envision as
the worst of punishments.
Some of them are quite
graphic and in some ways
humorous.
BOSCH

At the time of his death,
Bosch was internationally
celebrated as an eccentric
painter of religious visions
who dealt in particular with
the torments of hell. During
his lifetime Bosch's works
were in the inventories of
noble families of the
Netherlands, Austria, and
Spain, and they were
imitated in a number of
paintings and prints
throughout the 16th century,
especially in the works of
Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
Garden of Earthly Delights, detail
c. 1500
Oil on panel
Museo del Prado, Madrid
Henry Fuseli,1741-1825


The term ‘Nightmare’,
referring to a disturbing
dream, comes from this
series of 4 paintings, In
which a beautiful young
woman, tormented by
some dream is thrown
partially from her couch
as an incubus squats
malignantly on her body
and a flame-eyed horse
emerges from behind
drawn curtains.
This painting depicts the
visitation of a demon and
a equally demonic mare
to
The Nightmare
1781-1782, Oil on Canvas 30 x 25 in.
England
William-Adolphe
Bouguereau
(1825-1905)

Adolphe William Bouguereau, had a long,
successful career as an academic painter,
exhibiting in the annual Paris Salons for
more than 50 years. His paintings of
religious, mythological, and genre subjects
were carefully composed and painstakingly
finished. Thus he opposed the admission of
works by the impressionists to the Salon,
because he believed that their paintings
were no more than unfinished sketches.
After a period of neglect following his death,
Bouguereau's paintings were returned to
view as part of a renewed interest in and
reappraisal of academic painting and of
Ecole des Beaux-Arts works in general. A
major retrospective exhibition opened in
Paris and was seen in Montreal and Hartford,
Conn., in 1984.
Nymphs & Satyr, 1873, oil on canvas,
Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute,
Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

Daddy Longlegs of the Evening-Hope! (1940)
(1904-89) A finger in every
artistic pie, the Spaniard was a
painter, sculptor, graphic artist
and designer. He found his niche
in cubism, via Cubism, Futurism
and Metaphysical painting. Dali
was also a brilliant self-publicist,
and quickly became the most
famous representative of
Surrealism after moving to Paris
in 1929. The eccentric, dream-like
works reflected the character of
the artist perfectly. The anagram
of his name 'Avida Dollars'
seemed fitting, as in the late
1930s Dali was completely
preoccupied with publicity and
making money. There are two
museums in the USA (Cleveland
and Florida) and one in Spain
(Figueras - his birthplace)
completely devoted to Dali's
work, though critics meet his
output with mixed feelings.
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

The Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dali
(1904-1989)
Dali’s strange dream-like
world is riddled with
symbolism and Icons.
 Dali also utilized linear
perspective and atmospheric
perspective to give extreme
depth, thus allowing the
viewer to question their own
sanity, asking themselves, is
it real or just a dream?


At the same time a table with a fruit dish, a scene at a beach, a dog (looking to the
right), and a face looking towards you ! You may not like the work of Dali, but this is
actually an amazing achievement : four different scenes in one painting !
Michael Whelan

Linear Perspective is used to present a setting or a
situation in a believable format that frames or
enhances our visual experience. What ever we can
imagine can now be rendered in a ‘realistic’ format.
Michael Whelan

Be it Horror
or Fantasy,
Perspective,
both Linear
and
Atmospheric,
help to
create a vivid
image not
easily
forgotten.
Notice how
the artist
uses both to
help his
composition
and to create
emphasis
and depth.
Keith Parkinson
Keith Parkinson

Notice the use of
warm and cool colors
as well. Very
interesting!
Keith Parkinson
John Howe

John Howe’s use of color,
perspective and technique
combine to make him one
of the premiere Fantasy
Artists of our time.
John
Howe
This guy did set designs and concepts for the ‘Lord of the
Rings’ movies. Can you tell?

Does one point perspective work
here?
John Howe
James Christensen
James Christensen

Utah based
artist who
often paints
fantasy
images in
intimate
settings and
rooms.
James Christensen


Sometimes his rooms are
defined by walls.
Sometimes the rooms are not
defined.
A room with a
view

Your challenge is
to design a room
in one point
perspective and
fill it with a
minimum of three
objects that do
not naturally go
together.
Be creative, have fun and
use color like crazy.

You must
also have
a tiled
floor and
two
windows
anywhere
but in the
back wall.