Henry Darger
1892–1973
Introduction
Henry Joseph Darger Jr. ( DAR-ghər; April 12, 1892 – April 13, 1973) was an American writer, novelist and artist who worked as a hospital custodian in Chicago, Illinois. He has become famous for his posthumously recovered 15,145-page manuscript for a fantasy novel titled The Story of the Vivian Girls, along with several hundred drawings and watercolor illustrations for the story and two further works of literature.
The visual subject matter of his work ranges from idyllic scenes in Edwardian interiors and tranquil flowered landscapes populated by children and fantastic creatures, to scenes of horrific terror and carnage depicting young children being tortured and massacred. Much of his artwork is mixed media with collage elements. Darger's artwork has become one of the most celebrated examples of outsider art.
Wikidata identifier
Q721013
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Accessed November 12, 2024.
Introduction
Now considered one of the most notable American "outsider artists," Darger was a reclusive Chicago janitor whose work was discovered after his death by his landlord. He spent some of his early life in and out of an asylum, and by 1920, had begun work on his epic "The Story of the Vivian Girls in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal or the Glandelinian War Storm or the Glandico-Abbienian Wars as Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion" (also known as "Realms of the Unreal") - a 13,000 page mixed-media work with elaborate, cartoon-like watercolor illustrations. At the time of his death, he was at work on an autobiography, which had reached upwards of 2,600 pages.
Roles
Artist, illustrator, naive artist, painter, writer
ULAN identifier
500061883
Names
Henry Darger, Henry J. Darger
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed November 12, 2024.