Computer Animation Arts

Wallace Smith (1888 - 1937) provided these striking, agonised illustrations for Ben Hecht's Fantazius Mallare: A Mysterious Oath - a work of "vigorous grotesquerie and misanthropy"  .   First published in 1922 as a limited run, most copies of the book were destroyed by the powers-that-be on grounds of obscenity.  Smith's illustrations recall the dazzle of surface and complexity of line of Harry Clarke .

With all the fascinating character work-up stuff populating the blogs at the moment, I thought I'd showcase the work of 'Alastair' - otherwise known as Baron Hans H enning Voigt.   It's quirky, macabre, sinuous and a bit menacing somehow... "An artist, composer, dancer, mime, poet, singer and translator, Alastair was a fascinating and elusive personality, and perhaps best known as a gifted illustrator of the fin-de-siecle period. Officially born of German nobility in 1887 to the family of Von Voigt, and later mysteriously acquiring the title of Baron, Hans Henning Voigt was an enigma. He claimed to be a changeling…the spawn of an illegitimate union between a hot headed Bavarian prince and a pretty Irish lass…  Although clearly influenced by the sinister, serpentine style of Aubrey Beardsley , with echoes of the deliciously unhinged work of Harry Clarke , and a bit of the occult grotesquery of Austin Osman Spare’s art ...

" Aubrey Beardsley was unknown in 1892. By the time of his death in 1898, a mere six years, he had broken through the Victorian unconscious and hurled England into the 20th century. Many of his drawing first made their appearance in books or magazines with relatively limited subscription. Despite this, his erotic , humorous, and haunting drawings came to be popular and have been for more than a hundred years..." From artpassions.net