This post showcases a new body of art work inspired by a small selection of artists who have fallen under the profound spell of those tiny winged creatures we know as fairy folk. But these encounters are a far cry from the stories found in nursery books. These are bleak, frightening accounts of madness, incarceration and public shame.
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| Inspired by the Cottingley Fairies photographs A re-imagined collection by Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] Childhood doll collection photographed in and around my home town |
I have always been drawn to fairy illustration, especially from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. I adored Arthur Rackham's spindly sprites and fairy maidens but also loved the wholesome nursery styled fairies painted by Dorothy Wheeler, Florence Harrison, and
Anne Anderson. However, when I chose to study art history, my tastes settled on the more classical painters who envisaged a darker version of the fairy realm and I loved it. John Anster Fitzgerald [1819-1906] in particular painted his fairies in frenzied detail, his imps and pixies cavort about in mad and lovely vignettes but look closer at his works like The captive robin and Chase of the white mouse for hints at a more vindictive creature.
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| Inspired by the Cottingley Fairies photographs A re-imagined collection by Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] Childhood doll collection photographed in and around my home town |
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| Inspired by the Cottingley Fairies photographs A re-imagined collection by Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] Childhood doll collection photographed in and around my home town |
The dark side of any cultural genre if charismatic enough can be deceptively tempting and the disturbing fairy canvases and shocking life story of Richard Dadd [1817-1886] had me mesmerized. He was an exceptional artist whose promising career at The Royal Academy was tragically derailed and then bizarrely re-railed as the infamous artist sent to Bethlem Psychiatric Hospital [also known as Bedlam] for the murder of his father in 1843 when he was 27 years old. Probably suffering from Paranoid Schizophrenia, Dadd became subject to hallucinations and voices in his head whilst on a painting holiday in Egypt. Unfortunately, these symptoms were left unchecked and when he was arrested after the murder, he recounted how the spirit of an ancient pharaoh told him his father was the Devil in disguise. Knowing the reputation of Bethlem, it may be surprising to learn that he was actively encouraged to paint by the staff and over the years produced an astounding body of work. However, he remained sectioned for the rest of his life and was remembered by staff as a gentle, polite man prone to unexpected bouts of violent temper.
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| Inspired by the Cottingley Fairies photographs A re-imagined collection by Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] Childhood doll collection photographed in and around my home town |
Our next fairy victims were a father and son and my association with them began round 25 years ago with a particularly fruitful visit to Hay-on-Wye's collection of second-hand book shops. It was the cover that drew me to The Doyle Diary: The Last Great Conan Doyle Mystery, written by Michael Baker [1978]; a scratchy sketch of a bearded Edwardian gentleman shaking hands with Death, drawn as a skeleton, carrying a giant scythe and wearing a very becoming bridal veil.
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| My copy of The Doyle Diary by Michael Baker [1978] published by Paddington Press [U.K.] Ltd |
The book is actually about Charles Altamont Doyle [1832-1893] who is best known as father of Arthur Conan Doyle [creator of Sherlock Holmes]. Charles was an illustrator and painter of fairies as was his brother Richard [Dickie] Doyle. The difference between the two brothers was was that Dickie became very successful but Charles suffered with crippling alcoholism that eventually lead to incarceration in the Sunnyside Clinic at Royal Montrose Lunatic Asylum in Edinburgh sometime around 1885. While there, his health worsened and he began to suffer epileptic seizures and sank into a deep depression. But, he also continued to paint and filled numerous diaries with illustrations of peculiar and fantastical creatures. The images are enchanting and unnerving, miniature demons giggle and slither about on twisted limbs bothering tiny ladies who take refuge in branches and hide behind giant birds. However beautiful, the diary is bleak, exuding hopelessness and loneliness. The illustrations are captioned with little messages to his wife and protestations of his sanity. Sadly [like Dadd], he never made it home and died alone from a fit during the night in 1893.
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| The Doyle Diary contains a complete reproduction of one of the Sunnyside Clinic diaries of Charles Altamont Doyle [circa1885] I have copied a selection of the figures, re-coloured them and added moth wings Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] |
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| The Doyle Diary contains a complete reproduction of one of the Sunnyside Clinic diaries of Charles Altamont Doyle [circa1885] I have copied a selection of the figures, re-coloured them and added moth wings Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] |
Arthur Conan Doyle was one of Charles Doyle's seven children, famous during his own lifetime for his creation of Sherlock Holmes but also infamous for his misguided belief in the Cottingley Fairy photographs hoax during the 1920s. The hoax centered around two little girls, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, who claimed they'd taken photographs of genuine fairies in their home town of Cottingley, Yorkshire. Conan Doyle already had a deep belief in the after-life and spiritualism since he had lost his son during WWI. Therefore it is no surprise that when shown the photographs, in a moment of madness he not only publicly announced to the world his belief in their validity but also published an article in The Strand Magazine and wrote a book titled The Coming of the Fairies. Doyle also arranged for Theosophical Society member Edward Gardner [who had introduced him to the photographs] to visit the girls at home in the hope that he might also bear witness to their story. Gardner kept a diary of his visits and went on to publish several books on the subject.
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| One of Edward Gardner's Cottingley diaries Flat-lay arrangement of an imaginary find using personal ephemera, a notebook made from vintage paper and pressed flowers By Mayfifth1935 [June 2020] |
The public backlash began immediately and Conan Doyle especially received the lion's share of ridicule due to his association with Sherlock Holmes's famous logical reasoning. It is hard to imagining how Doyle and his fellow believers might have felt during their plummet from euphoria [Doyle called the photographs "an epoch making event"] to being the butt of jokes and caricatured in cruel cartoons. In this story, there was no murder or madness but Doyle and Gardner must surely have been heartbroken. However, as far as we can tell, the hoax did not alter their otherworldly beliefs as they both continued to write on the subject. Moreover, if you read about the hoax, there appears to have been no malicious intention. It was most likely a joke meant only to be have been shared within the family. Within the correspondence of both Elsie and Frances there is a sincere sense of embarrassment and guilt at the ridicule heaped on Conan Doyle and certainly no crowing at having "got one over" on such a famous intellectual. This story is one of profound sadness and regret.
In conclusion and a final thought. Just because these photographs were staged, does it mean absolutely that fairies do not exist? Of course we know this not to be true and the following question has occurred to me. Might the fairies regret not having come to the aid of Doyle and Gardner? By showing themselves to the world they could have vindicated our heroes and things would have been very different. But here, we come to another question, can fairies even feel regret? Do they have any concept of right and wrong? This conjecture however, is for another conversation so I leave you now with the culmination of this portfolio. A poem that imagines a hazy summer evening and a little band of fairies who fondly remember these devotees with a sorrowful reverence.
Fairy Voices
💔
Walking through a meadow near the end of day
I once saw a fairy troupe engaged in dance and play
Like little dolls in foreign dress cavorting all around
Their tiny sing song voices made a strange and haunting sound
I strained to hear of what they sang and
thought they chanted names
Of those who fell under the spell of twisted fairy games
One was a ghost who painted them while locked
in Montrose Royal
A frail and frightened broken man who hoped
his name was Doyle
For Richard Dadd they wept and raged, a cursed and awful man
Who killed his father, lost his mind and
lived inside Bedlam
Of Arthur Rackham’s spindly sprites and winged angels fair
They sang of how he painted them as spirits of the air
They sang of summer days at play with Francis
and Elsie
Upon wet rocks and lichened oaks at secret
Cottingley
Of Conan Doyle and Gardner they spoke in whispered awe
Regretting all the lies and shame for now and
ever more
💔
Poem by Mayfifth1935
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| Inspired by the Cottingley Fairies photographs A re-imagined collection by Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] Childhood doll collection photographed in and around my home town |
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| Inspired by the Cottingley Fairies photographs A re-imagined collection by Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] |
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| Inspired by the Cottingley Fairies photographs A re-imagined collection by Mayfifth1935 [April 2020] |
As mentioned above, this post has been created to showcase my recent fairy related art portfolio. Therefore, as good blog posts shouldn't ramble on, I've only presented the very bare bones of these artist's stories. If you wish to learn more please use the hyperlinks over the names, these will take you to their Wikipedia entries.
Below is an interesting link telling Dadd's story in more detail:
Below is a link to a blog post by Monster Brains on Charles Altamont Doyle and includes an image of [in my opinion] his most profoundly sad and beautiful painting, The Spirits of the Prisoners, 1885 [ghosts and fairies flying around Montrose Asylum in the moonlight]:
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