Picture Gallery tells a thousand stories

2:46pm Friday 23rd November 2007

For all the delight and innocence of Dulwich Picture Gallery's new exhibition, there lies some pretty sad tales of the artists behind them. The Age of Enchantment is a unique collection of fantasy illustrations from the late 1800s to the inter-war period, charting the transition in style from decadence to playfulness and whimsy.

It was a change almost single-handedly triggered by the death of Aubrey Beardsley in 1898, and it evolved further when publishers saw the neon pound signs in using cheerful book illustrations to cheer up England, which was all forlorn and post-war.

The curator of the Age of Enchantment is Rodney Engen, a world authority on the subject. From his descriptions, it seems some illustrators' stories are not far from the romantic notion of the struggling artist, under-nourished and under-appreciated, light of pocket and heavy of heart.

"These artists really strived to become established and recognised," says Rodney, "Danish illustrator Kay Nielson was always fighting prejudice, he illustrated for Hans Christian Andersen so it is amazing he was not more popular.

"He went to Hollywood to become well-known and worked on Fantasia with Disney, but he fell out with them. He was very meticulous and would take days on a page, Disney wanted storyboards which was more to do with sketching and developing characters.

"And he went back to Denmark from England as he couldn't make a go of it. He ended up selling chickens to his neighbours, it is very sad as his works were quite wonderful, beautifully designed."

As a 16-year-old, Sidney Simes worked down the mines and would practice his art on the coal face. Eventually, Simes became a reasonably successful illustrator of warped, eccentric pieces.

A happier ending, but still, such struggles... no wonder these artists indulged in fantasy and escapism (the common themes of the exhibition, says Rodney). And a good job that extensive biographies accompany the 100 or so pieces.

Stylistically, the works are a magpie's nest of art history, referencing Persian miniatures, Victorian fairy worlds, rococo fantasies, sculpture and Oriental decoration, to name a few.

Dismissed at the time as mere graphic designers or publishers' puppets, these illustrators have also been neglected long after their death - Dulwich's exhibition is the first of its kind in England, and it has been 20 years since America gave them the oxygen of a show.

Indeed, some illustrators are getting their very first public showing - the Detmold twins for example - child prodigies who both committed suicide leaving a legacy of "quite extraordinary" prints and paintings of natural history. Edmund Dulac - a master of the genre - has the largest collection of his works ever displayed here, borrowed from his studio in Holland Park.

Does Rodney have a favourite piece? "Yes, there is a Dulac done for the Tempest which is just staggering, breathtaking. It has figures coming out of the waves, gold on deep deep blue and it is immaculate, I would love to own it."

The Age of Enchantment; Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, SE21 7AD; Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, weekends 11am-5pm, £9/£8/£5, call 020 8693 5254 or visit dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

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