acDonald
relates to the arts in at least two obvious ways. First of all, he was a friend
of Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites,
and his work shares some of their emphasis upon imagination, fantasy, and unorthodox
symbolism. In particular, Phantastes, Lilith,
and some of his children's books have much in common with the Victorian
fairy painting of J. Noel Paton and similar
artists.
Second, his work has provided inspiration for artists and illustrators since its first publication. His famous children's books were illustrated, for example, by Arthur Hughes, one of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. Almost four decades after Phantastes, a Faerie Romance first appeared, Chatto & Windus republished it with fine illustrations by Bernard Sleigh.
Related Materials
- Art to Enchant: The Development of Victorian Fairy Painting — Introduction
- Fairy Painting in the Romantic Era
- The Heyday of Fairy Painting
- Pre-Raphaelite Fairy Painting
- Bibliography
Last modified 27 June 2007