What is fantastical art? Called “Le Fantastique” in French, art of this genre is held together by an interest in the non-realistic, mythical, mystical and folkloric. It can be absurd, bizarre and surreal, impossible images distilled with sober clarity. Hieronymus Bosch is considered the first Western painter of the fantastic, his operatic ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ a cornucopia of grotesque, bizarre and sensuous moments. In the 20th century, fantastic art was taken up by the surrealists who pursued chance, the subconscious and synchronicity.
Fantastical art is not always an otherworldly delight – it can be disturbing and confronting, evoking the grotesque and uncanny. In their exploration of a world beyond reality, fantastical artists evoke the subconscious – when you sleep at night, what do you see? What lies at the base of your id? Artists also use the fantastical to set up compelling metaphors, hybrid creatures giving form to the dichotomies that lie within us. Are we wild like a horse or civilised like men? Are we housewives or beasts ready to kill?“The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad.” - Salvador Dali
In our collection of fantastical art, delve into a wonderfully weird world. There are scenarios to make you ponder, creatures to marvel at and a chance to reconnect with the sense of imagination that runs so abundant in childhood, yet seems remote in adulthood. Why does fantastical art continue to bewitch? Because it sees life for what it is: fantastically strange.
