The Nightmare: A classic in Gothic Art

The Nightmare, by J. Henry Fuseli, 1781 Oil on Canvas

 Greetings my fellow Gothic Lovers,

As I've spent a few posts writing about Gothic Movies and TV shows, I decided it was time to mix things up a bit, and talk this time about Gothic Art.

Now, mind you, in Art History circles there isn't necessarily a recognized 'school' of Gothic art, but there are plenty of Gothic paintings to search for throughout the centuries. The Romantic period has many Gothic images in it, and once we get past the revolution in Art that the impressionists started in Paris of the 1880's, we can find many more wonderful examples of Gothic, dreamlike or nightmarish depictions.

One of the most famous of these earlier paintings is the one above, The Nightmare. It was painted by an artist slightly before the Gothic craze that hit England in the late 18th century.

What, you say, there was a Gothic craze in the 18th Century? Yes, there was. I've studied the Gothic movement for some years and as a historian I am delighted to share this news with you. Often we think our generation invented a fad, but really, there is nothing new under the sun.... just revivals. You've heard of Gothic Revival Architecture when talking about house design, everyone has.

Well, it seems that in the late eighteenth century, England experienced a Gothic Revival of sorts, in literature, architecture and in some art circles. It's found under the "Romantic" period, and is considered a backlash against the Age of Enlightenment when men were courting logic and reason and the Industrial Revolution began to pollute and tear up the pristine English countryside with factories. Romanticism was a return to the dreamy side of the mind, the illogical, and often unexplainable part of life, like falling in love or . . . having a nightmare.

 J. Henry Fuesli's The Nightmare is an example of this return to Romanticism in thought and art. His painting has rather chilling undertones. The woman lying with her body dangling over the bed is supposed to be a virgin. She's lying as if half dead, or stoned out of her mind--you pick, the interpretation is usually left up to the viewer.  The creature sitting on her chest has visited her while she is asleep, giving her a 'nightmare'. It was believed in folklore that when a virgin, or other female sleeping alone had a nightmare, that she had been visited by an incubus--or demon in the night. Some stories claim the demon had sex with her while she was unconscious.

Wow, who thought our century had the corner on the crazy market. As I have a minor in Art History, I can tell you what the horse and the incubus are supposed to mean. There all kinds of psycho-babble and nerdy interpretations have been written about this great painting, (the woman is sexually frustrated, repressed, she's courting the devil, practicing witchcraft and ecetera).  And you can nod your head, politely, and make your own assumptions and allusions.

Or just enjoy this rich, lovely Gothic painting and the creepiness it evokes in the viewer. It was shocking when first displayed in the Art Galleries in the 1780's, but it caught on, and has lasted as a disturbing painting for two centuries.

About the Artist: Henry Fuseli was born in Zurich, Switzerland as Johanne Heinrich Fuusli. He was lucky enough to be born into a family of artists, art historians and writers. Although his siblings were artists, his father slanted him for the clergy. Fuseli became a clergyman, but he had his own opinions about things, so that didn't take very well. He became an artist in later years instead. Good for us! Fuseli was a reputed to be a short man of 5'2'' but had a very 'domineering' personality. He was reputed to be a very intelligent and fiery sort of man. He also had pure white hair, which gives me the image of Doc from Back to the Future.

Fuseli spent much of his time as a painter and writer in England. He painted a lot of Shakespeare's scenes, and became known for his mystical and haunting style of painting. The Nightmare, is his most famous work. He is considered by many to be a forerunner of the Symbolist movement and the Surrealist Art movement, as most of the paintings he has done are very dreamlike and surreal at a time when most English painters stuck to historical figures, landscapes or portraits of the rich and famous. 

Sweet Dreams!

Chills to you,

Lilith Bloodrose

Why Gothic?  What's the attraction?

For my first post, I wanted to share a little bit about myself before I post discussions on Gothic Art, Literature and Architecture and music. So here goes:

I always knew I was different. From the time I was a child, watching The Addams Family--no--not the movies made in the '90's , but the old TV show.  I loved Morticia. I thought she was so elegant and beautiful with her long black hair and long black dress, so pale and so lovely. I had to be about six or seven years old.

Morticia Addams, my mentor at age seven

Little did I know that I was falling for the dark side, even as a child. I developed a fascination for the beauty of the dark Goth.

The dark side of romance also was blooming in my faint little heart. Mortica and Mr. Addams were intriguing. His passion for her, no matter the situation. Mr. Addams worshipped Mortica as a goddess extraordinaire. I was enthralled by their love play, and in later years that simple admiration would blossom into a writing career where I created dark, sinister Gothic Heroes.
Thank you, Mortica and Mr. Addams.

My second role model was Lily Munster. Again, dark, elegant, beautiful.
Normal, in my way of thinking.  Long black hair, pale skin, so ethereal.  If kids are influenced by what they watch on TV, then I was influenced as a child by Mortica Addams and Lily Munster. 

As a teen, I was drawn to the dark side. The bad boys then were the Vampires. Louis and Lestat of Anne Rice fame.  These men made my teen heart throb while others were fascinated with the bubble gum good guy types. 

As I look back, I realize that I was attracted to the Gothic genre before I even completed elementary school, before Goth became a term describing kids with black lipstick, badly dyed hair and dog collars.  I was Goth before it was a label. I didn't wear black lipstick as a teen, or black nail polish. I just read dark books, and was attracted like a moth to a flame to anything dark and creepy.

Cemetery Crypt Special Effects, Copyright 2006 Lilith Bloodrose

 In college, I was also set apart from my peers. I was older than the average college student, as I went back to college to pursue a degree in art with an emphasis in photography. What really set me apart as an art student was my dark side, not my age. I created dark works for my assignments, and was labeled as weird and dark by all the happy, cheerful 18-20 year olds who didn't see the ethereal beauty in the cemetery photographs I shot (above), or the gargoyle photo I created with our pinhole camera assignment. (Below)

Gargoyle, Pinhole Camera Shot. Copyright 2004  Lilith Bloodrose

 I did not fit in with the 'normal' crowd, and I took that as a blessing. As an artist, and a mature adult, I wanted to embrace my fascination for the dark side. My photography teacher, bless her, was the only one who understood my need to create dark images, and she encouraged me to follow my muse. Fellow students, however, labeled me is dark, strange, odd, weird--not much had changed since high school, despite having married and having children. I was still dark inside. Not dark and twisty, like Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy, but dark, and happy to be so.



So, dear reader, I am a Goth, born that way. Not a phase, not after so many years. I love gothic art, architecture, and literature. I read classic Anne Rice, and also Anne Radcliffe--for those of you who do not know, Anne Radcliffe wrote Gothic Novels that were popular in the 1790's, long before Anne Rice hit the scene with her 18th century Lestat.  I love Ozzie, and Evanescence.  I like Jessica Galbreath's Gothic watercolor fairies. I like to walk through cemeteries, looking for beautiful sculptures of angels and wistful women. I love Tim Burton's works, Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride.

If there is one thing that's true about those who are truly Gothic at heart, is that it's a lonely existence. You don't tell your cheerleader friends, lest they step away from you. You don't tell your in-laws, who never liked you to begin with. So with that in mind, please feel free to connect with me on this blog or on my facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lilith-Bloodrose/276490345732977

So, why Gothic? I opened with a question, and I'm not sure of the answer. Why am I attracted to Gothic things? I don't know, maybe it's in the blood?  All I know is that after so many years, it's just who I am.

I welcome my fellow followers of darkness to connect to each other and to stand proud yet different as an alternate genre.


Chills to you,

Lilith Bloodrose 2012