A few weeks ago, after writing the article about «Books inspired by famous paintings«, I promised to return with the opposite version, that is to say, the presence of large paintings and illustrations inspired by literary works as a singular artistic symbiosis.
The color, the vision of an artist and, especially, the passion for the original work that such a work requires are some of the components that have given life to these works of art inspired by literary works and that they have tried to turn great history books into equally spectacular visual feats.
The Death of Ophelia, by Sir John Everett Millais
Painted between 1851 and 1852, the work of the British Millais illustrates the death of one of the few female characters in the tragedy Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Daughter of Polonius, Ofelia is a princess in love with Prince Hamlet whose fall from a willow tree causes her to faint in her coffin of water. The inspiring work is currently in the Tate Gallery in London.
Mad tea party, by Salvador Dalí
The dream world of The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland published by Lewis Carroll In 1865 it had a great effect on the surrealist art of Dalí, an artist who in his lifetime made twelve illustrations based on the work and adorned with his own elements such as his famous cast clocks. This "Mad tea party" represents the chapter in which Alice shares tea with the Hare and the Mad Hatter. In his own way, of course.
Don Quixote, by Pablo Picasso
On the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the birth of the first part of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, in 1955 the French magazine Les Lettres Françaises commissioned Picasso a sketch de the most universal Spanish work in history. Simple and totally removed from the cubist style of the Malaga painter, we personally love it.
The End of the World and a Ruthless Wonderland, By Micah Lidberg
British illustrator Micah Lidberg must have been a huge fan of Japanese author Haruki Murakami when he gave life to five illustrations inspired in turn by five works by the famous writer oriental (. Of all of them, the one inspired by The end of the world and a ruthless wonderland is our favorite, a whole show of pop culture in which there is no lack of characteristic elements of what is one of the great works of the writer such like its sinister cats, blood with ice and other symbols of a dreamlike hell that becomes more tangible than ever.
Moby Dick by Matt Kish
English teacher and self-taught artist, Matt Kish decided in 2011 illustrate the 552 pages of the work Mody Dick by Herman Melville and encompass the work in the book Mobdy Dick: One Drawing for Every Page. The illustrator, who claimed to have read the book nine times, embroidered this ambitious project in which the most famous whale in literature was "remixed" by the art of the new millennium and combined with the pages of one of the best adventure novels of all time.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Thomas Hart Benton
The Missouri scenes that inspired Mark Twain They would, in turn, have a special influence on the work of the American muralist Thomas Hart Benton, who gave life to various illustrations inspired by these enclaves of river boats, families from deep America and colored slaves who danced with the whites. The illustration above is inspired by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In turn, the following illustration inspired by The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, was completed in 1940 and becomes one of the leitmotifs from the artist:
Spoiler
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Aramis Gutiérrez
Born in Pittsburgh in 1975, Gutiérrez has been exhibiting a large part of his work throughout the United States for years, straddling cultural myths, ballet or war as the main themes. Among so much existential work, this impressive (and perhaps spoilage) image based on the greatest work of Gabriel García Márquez is one of the best paintings inspired by the Nobel Prize bibliography.
These 7 paintings and illustrations inspired by great works of literature confirm the close relationship between letters and colors. Works that reflect the vision on the part of an artist towards that work read with zeal whose versions and interpretations are (almost) infinite.
What other work of art inspired by a book would you add?
It helped me a lot for a project.