Art Hero...Edward Gorey

 I've been thinking a lot about Edward Gorey this week. To me, his work invokes the feeling of a  winter wonderland. His black and white ink drawings wrap me with a nice homey eerie feeling. Perhaps it is a simple as fashion. His characters always seem so perfectly cool as the do the most dreaded things. They seem to always be outside in bleakness of nature delightfully wrapped in furs and wraps and big o' hats.  The stories make me shiver(in delight, of course) and seem to be made to read in front of the roaring fire.

Edward Gorey by Michael Romanos

This man does the Victorian  and Edwardian world proud (funny that he had never even been to England). I have been a fan of his for many, many years. Sometimes I forget what an amazing influence he has been on my life and the lives of so many artists. I'm sure he was one of the best stokers of my morbidity. To me he was the father, or perhaps grandfather of the Goth crowd. Do you think Tim Burton would  be as twisted as he is with out him? I'm not sure.

Here are a few of my favorite drawings from the over 100 books that he illustrated:

from "The Blue Aspic"

The three above from "The Gashycrumb Tinies"

from, "The Hapless Child"

from "The Doubtful Guest"

from "The Object Lesson"

from "The Fatal Lozenge"

Lovely gruesomeness...

If you are curious, my all time favorite Edward Gorey book is "The Hapless Child".  It must be one of the most weirdly depressing illustrated books I've ever read. It just keeps hitting you in the gut. You think things would improve for this cute angelic little girl. Nope... it just keeps getting worse. I suppose that is why I love it so, no mercy...

Do you have a favorite Gorey book? Which one is it...and why?


By the way, I have to admit, one of the things that got me on my Edward Gorey kick this week is this.   Are you dying for yellow dyed coyote fur coat,  bizarre stuffed bat or a nice little signed copy of a book? Then make a bid at the auction and you can own a bit of illustration history yourself.  Wouldn't that be a fun Christmas present? Ok, well...maybe not the fur...