Henry Darger, throwaway boy : the tragic life of an outsider artist
Title:
Henry Darger, throwaway boy : the tragic life of an outsider artist
Author:
Elledge, Jim, 1950-
ISBN:
9781590208557
Publication Information:
New York : Overlook Duckworth, c2013
Physical Description:
396 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 23 cm
General Note:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [355]-386) and index
Abstract:
Henry Darger was utterly unknown during his lifetime, keeping a quiet, secluded existence as a janitor on Chicago's North Side. When he died his landlord discovered a treasure trove of more than three hundred canvases and more than 30,000 manuscript pages depicting a rich, shocking fantasy world-many showing hermaphroditic children being eviscerated, crucified and strangled. While some art historians tend to dismiss Darger as an unhinged psychopath, in Henry Darger, Throw-Away Boy, Jim Elledge cuts through the cloud of controversy and rediscovers Darger as a damaged, fearful, gay man, raised in a world unaware of the consequences of child abuse or gay shame
Subject:
| Darger, Henry, 1892-1973 |
| Outsider artists -- United States -- Biography |
| Watercolorists -- United States -- Biography |
Summary:
Henry Darger was utterly unknown during his lifetime, keeping a quiet, secluded existence as a janitor on Chicago's North Side. When he died his landlord discovered a treasure trove of more than three hundred canvases and more than 30,000 manuscript pages depicting a rich, shocking fantasy world-many showing hermaphroditic children being eviscerated, crucified and strangled. While some art historians tend to dismiss Darger as an unhinged psychopath, in Henry Darger, Throw-Away Boy, Jim Elledge cuts through the cloud of controversy and rediscovers Darger as a damaged, fearful, gay man, raised in a world unaware of the consequences of child abuse or gay shame