This illustrated book reveals the artistic output of more than 190 writers. For centuries writers have been inspired to put down the pen and pick up the brush, creating works that range from inspired doodles to accomplished oils. There are instances of writers turning to the visual arts as early as the 14th century - Petrarch, for example - but it was only at the dawn of the Romantic era in the late 18th century that the tendency to merge literary and artistic activity took hold, as can be seen in the work of William Blake, which affects a veritable fusion of poetic and graphic creation. From the 19th century, many writers were tempted by drawing, painting and collage. There are hundreds, even thousands, of visual works by such renowned authors as Goethe, George Sand, and Hans Christian Andersen. Of course, not all writers who tried their hand at the visual arts possess the creative abilities of Victor Hugo, August Strindberg, or Henri Michaux.
But while drawings by such authors as the Marquis de Sade, Gustave Flaubert, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Marcel Proust were meant to serve as no more than memory aids in the writing of their novels, they are nonetheless fascinating documents that deepen our understanding of their personalities and creative methods.
- ISBN10 1558594027
- ISBN13 9781558594029
- Publish Date 15 October 1992
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Out of Print 2 October 2008
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 224
- Language English