In the Realm of the Unreal

In 1970 a janitor in Chicago by the name of Henry Darger died. As his neighbors cleaned out his house they found a 15,000 page novel detailing a fictional tale of seven sisters living in a world where children are slaves. The storey tells of these sisters rising up against their evil masters and the war that ensues. Hundreds of illustrations were also found that corresponded with this story (see right). Darger taught himself to draw by tracing add pictures and using similar faces, poses, and scenes over and over again. The movie “In the Realm of the Unreal” details the life of Darger. I highly recommend this movie if you are interested in his art or a different style of art.

The fact that stuck out to me is that Darger died in 1970 and there are only 3 photos of what this man looked like. It seems amazing to me that as recently as 1970 someone could go through life hardly ever having a picture taken of them self. I think of the hundreds of pictures there are of me, chronicling my life. Pictures of first days of school, family vacations, and holidays are stored away in at home. I’ve had more then three pictures taken of me this last year. I find it sad that this man lived for so long with only three pictures of him self ever.