Have you heard of Sulamith Wulfing? She was an artist born in Germany in 1901. Wulfing created some of the most beautify, ethereal works of art I have ever seen. The people in her drawings are luminous and there is a wistfulness to her work, as though she knew she was the only one who saw the world in that way. Apparently, she began drawing at a very young age, putting down on paper the world as she saw it. Wulfing's world contained angels combined with fairytale elements usually lost outside of dreams. Her attention to detail is astounding, just look closely at any of her works. Women's gowns are accented with Norse and Celtic influenced designs and knot work. She made precision an important element of her work. However, the overall effect of her art is an image viewed through a thick mist. Many of her drawings were sold as holiday cards or were commissioned as illustrations for children's books. If you like fairy/angel art, you will love her work.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
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Sulamith Wulfing is fantastic! Bless Interlibrary Loan for helping me to get my hands on the out-of-print book with panels of a lot (not all) of her art. It also has a brief bio on the artist. It seems that she is a truly humble person who is driven by her art to create these lovely images.
I find that the mix of emotions present in her work intriguing. Each one seems a little sad, but there also seems to be hope shining quietly behind the wistfulness.
"Dreamlike" is a really excellent word to describe the scenes, and you can also tell that other emotions, like romantic or maternal love, are always present. I think the dream-like qualities both permit and display a freedom from boundaries in each piece. For me, her art represents escape, so the 'oneiric' effect is what soothes me. (This blog is probably the only place I will ever get to use that word, so I have to go for it, even if you, dear Reader, are groaning. It's one of my "25-cent words" and I am going to use it!)
In short, I can't believe that it took me nearly three decades to discover the fantastic (yes, in both senses of the word) Ms. Wulfing.
And if you like her work, Kinuko Y. Craft is the worthiest successor that I know of. Her work is slightly less dreamy, but no less fantastic and also to be found adorning children's books.
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