The original artwork for The Hobbit was done by J.R.R. Tolkien himself. In addition to being a gifted storyteller, Tolkien was a talented artist.
Today, I saw a line drawing of the house on Tolkien's Aunt's farm that he drew. It is the only non-university owned artwork of Tolkien that is known to exist, and this is the first time it has been in public exhibition. It is on display currently in the Banbury Museum which is located a twenty minute train ride north of Oxford.
One small pen drawing (no more than 5"x5") is certainly not enough reason to go there, even though the surrounding countryside from the window of the train is lovely. The reason for my visit was the summer gallery offering there, Tolkien's Middle Earth.
It is an exhibit of Tolkien art not merely Tolkien's art. On display are a variety of paintings by three artists who have tried to capture scenes from Tolkien's literary work. They show significant differences in style and interpretation reflecting each individual artist. Each interpretation is in its own way marvelous.
From the very beginning, Tolkien's work has inspired artists to try to take the view of their imagination and express it in a concrete form. This is a curious dynamic that I am still thinking my way through. There have been any number of wildly popular works of literature over the years. How many of them have created a whole category of drawing and paintings dedicated to them? We don't have exhibitions of Shakespeare Art, Conan Doyle Art, Grisham Art--in fact I can't think of any writer whose work has so stirred the artistic imagination (if you can think of one, please suggest their name in the comment section below).
What is it about Tolkien's writing that spurs creativity? I have a hunch that it is found on the walls of that gallery. No two artists imagined in the same way. None of the paintings looked like Tolkien's illustrations or Peter Jackson's films. Tolkien's longevity and genius is that while creating with his words a detailed setting, it is not so detailed that there is not room for each individual to make their very own picture in their head.
I was fortunate to see works by a few of the very talented who got it out of their head and onto the canvas.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Leaving aside the piece of literature that has inspired the most artistic interpretations - the Bible - I'd probably say there is a fairly large body of work related to Greek mythology, and I remember fondly studying some of the visual interpretations of the Canterbury Tales with Susan Moore.
ReplyDeleteMore recent examples are escaping me at the moment, although there are more and more exhibitions and museums popping up that feature a singular writer - most often those are illustrators as well, so the work is their own interpretation of the written word, and not others.
I do believe that between the late 1700's and early 1900's that the works of Shakespeare dominated the artwork inspired by literature - something like 1/5 of all works were attributed to his writing. A lot of these were inspired by the physical stage productions themselves, and not the original plays as written, but I know that in England alone there are numerous exhibitions of these works. Maybe you'll run into a few in your journeys.
Enjoying the ride from here...
Kristin,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful comment. It is helpful to me as I think around the issue. The whole issue of Shakespeare art is quite interesting because I was unaware of it. I do not think it is a now burgeoning field, but I am going to look and see what I can find out about it and the length of time it flourished. It will be interesting--and perhaps not a project that my lifetime will know to see if the Tolkien art field has a similar life span.
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of Shakespearean-inspired artwork, especially from the Victorians. While I too am unaware of more recent examples, certainly the variety of interpretation of his works speaks to the inspiration of good writing.
And I certainly agree that Tolkien has inspired more people in more ways than many writers. From the artwork you've mentioned, to the various movie adaptations (from good to bad), to radio plays, even to multi-million dollar musicals!
Reading your blog is making me miss the beauty of Oxford! I am thoroughly enjoying your journey with you, though I am joining at a later date!
I'm glad you are enjoying!
Laura Beth,
ReplyDeleteYou are right to point out all of the other artistic fields I failed to mention. And of course there is now even a one man show of Lord Of The Rings that toured Louisville a few weeks ago.
Bob