Fantasy Art

Fantasy art is historically rooted in mythology, folklore and religion from all over the globe. Fantasy art is a universal language that conveys the mystery of unseen forces and the mysteries of life. The history of fantasy art dates back to Greek mythology, Chinese folklore, various cultural traditions and African voodoo and magic. Our museums are proof of this with artifacts portraying gods, dragons, evil demons, spirits, ghosts, forces of nature, angels, aliens, and heroic immortals. Fantasy art is a mixture of imagination and direct observation of reality. Fantasy art is fanciful, unrealistic, fantastic, dreamy, wistful, and full of rich imagery. Fantasy art initially developed in ancient times and has been practiced and loved mostly by dreamers and artists with wild imaginations.

Fantasy artists

Dutch artist Hieronomous Bosch was a famous fantastical artist of the 1500’s who is most well known for his painting of The Garden of Earthly Delights – it’s a triptych of Eden portraying nude people, giant fruits, winged houses, and glass domes. His nudes were sensuous yet haunting as he wanted to relate his ideas about Adam and Ever and their Original Sin.

Fantasy art history

It was only in the 20th century that fantasy art became an accepted art form. At this time more artists were labeled as fantasy artists than at any other time before them. This acceptance and indulgence in fantasy art was the result of modernization and the invention of photography in the 1800’s – realistic art gradually lost its charm because there was no longer a purpose for realistic representation. Representational art had been advanced since the classical Roman times, and later, Renaissance artists developed accurate perspective techniques in order to accurately depict a subject. In the 20th century however, photography replaced realism and fantasy art history became extremely popular. Artists needed a new challenge in the art world and focused on expressionism, cubism, abstraction, fantasy and surreal art. The meaning and purpose of art changed as artists explored different ways of expressing ideas – not just reporting historical events, and subjects. Artists turned to painting the unseen, and their imaginations ran wild. Today, fantasy art continues to be extremely popular where artists and art lovers can enjoy sci fi, surreal, mythological, unexplainable, imaginative, and taboo themes. Dark fantasy art is a popular theme for both artists and connoisseurs where individuals can explore their deepest fears, and darkest desires. Popular themes are vampires, demons, gothic art, wiccan and pagan art, horror art and dark surreal themes. Dragon fantasy art is also very popular because dragons continue to be mystical and un proven creatures. Many myths and legends exist about dragons and it’s only natural that artists would convey this mystique in their dragon paintings.