Henry Darger
Random web searches can lead you to strange places sometimes. Several weeks ago I stumbled onto the Henry Darger story while doing some aimless web surfing, and I have just not been able to shake this guy. His story is amazing. And inspiring. And sad.
In 1973 Henry Darger, an impoverished 81 year old retired janitor, died in a Chicago Catholic poorhouse, alone, with no family or friends. Just prior to his death, his landlords went into the 2nd floor walk-up apartment he’d lived in for 40 years, and discovered an incredible artistic and literary treasure. Crammed into the tiny one-room apartment were hundreds of watercolor paintings, dozens of notebooks filled with meticulous observations of the weather, piles of newspaper and magazine clippings, and a 15000 page novel that detailed a monumental battle between the forces of good and evil on a distant planet. This discovery has had scholars scratching their heads for the last 30 years.
Darger was an uneducated man with little formal schooling and no artistic training. In spite of his artistic and literary shortcomings, he created a bizarre and strangely beautiful tale of 7 sisters who led a rebellion against an evil empire bent on enslaving and killing children. He illustrated the story with hundreds of watercolor paintings that depicted a fantastic landscape in which incredibly savage, years-long battles took place. Darger accomplished this by tracing cartoons, comic books, newspaper ads and anything else that was available. His unusual use of color, along with the fantastic imagery he employed, has made his work one the most important artistic finds of the last half century.
Darger spent 61 years creating this fantasy world. No one in the tenement he lived in for most of his adult life had any idea of what he was doing in his room. The few people in the neighborhood who noticed him at all thought he was a strange old hermit who walked around rummaging in the trash and talking to himself.
Henry Darger had no family, no friends, no confidants. His life consisted only of his work as a janitor and the imaginary world he created. After his workday was done, he would retreat to his cluttered little apartment where he spent every night alone, painting and writing and talking to himself. Perhaps the most fantastic part of Darger’s story is that he created this tremendous work only for himself, with no thought of publication. It is ironic that now, 30 years after his death, Henry Darger’s written works are being studied by a team of doctoral candidates, and his paintings are valued in the millions of dollars.
I think a lot about Darger. What fueled his creativity? Was it his loneliness, his isolation from other people? What kept him going year after year, when he knew he would never receive a dime from what he was doing? What would he think if he knew his life’s work was critically acclaimed as the most important example of “outsider art” ever found?
posted by: Lindy (reply)
post date: 09.28.06 (8:20 am)
Henry Darger! I watched the documentary on Henry Darger just a few months ago. I couldn't look away, it was that incredible. Did you see that all of the children were depicted with male genitals, including the girls (the wholesome, heroic sisters)? The narrator of the documentary threw in the idea that Henry really didn't have any other model to compare girls with, therefore, he drew only that which he knew.. it sounds plausible, as clearly, Henry never had a partner with whom to share his life. The sheer amount of work he turned out was such that there could be no doubt that this was his life's passion, one he undertook purely out of love (or perhaps to cope with a reality he didn't understand), as opposed to any intention of ever publishing or capitalizing on it.. One of his old housemates who was interviewed on the documentary said he spoke with Henry during his last days in the hospital about his stories and that Henry's reaction was one of surprise, and he said something like, 'Ooooh, well, it's too late now...' - as if he had hoped to continue keeping it a secret. I am inclined to think that Darger retreated to his fantasy because it's really all he had. At one point, he apparently was considering adopting a child, but.. it didn't happen and I'm not all so sure that's a bad thing.. he was certainly an odd character. I can't imagine that a child in that environment would flourish.. or perhaps it would have helped Henry come out into the world. We'll never know. Fascinating man. If you haven't seen the documentary and want to, I'll see if I can find a pointer to it.. I think Devon downloaded it from somewhere..
posted by: basild (reply)
post date: 09.28.06 (8:40 am)
Lindy: Yeah, I saw the documentary after I read everything I could find on the internet about Darger. It's probably a good thing he couldn't adopt a child, as I suspect his child rearing skills would have been poor or nonexistent. I still feel sorry for him. Like you, I suspect he was driven to do this because he was so lonely and isolated that he had nothing else--kinda like John and his obsessions.
posted by: lorischuster (reply)
post date: 10.01.06 (5:31 pm)
What a fascinating story. I think often for a creative person--it's the act of creating that is important...not the end result....especially if they are otherwise lonely and isolated. It's their lifeline. Great post.
posted by: bronwynj (reply)
post date: 10.03.06 (4:58 am)
You never know "what lurks beneath" the social masks of others. Unforunately, there's not a whole lot going on underneath a lot of facades.
posted by: Cutter (reply)
post date: 12.21.06 (8:43 pm)
You disappeared again. :(
posted by: lindy (reply)
post date: 03.23.07 (8:14 am)
He showeth and then he disappeareth.
Glad you popped up, even if just for a moment. I hope everything's alright with you and yours.
posted by: LordStrange (reply)
post date: 03.27.07 (6:07 pm)
Basil, if you ever resurface drop me a line. I've just only now got round to reading your stuff (I know, I'm an awful online person) and I'll return your own compliment: you can certainly write. And thanks for this Henry Darger post - I'd never heard of him before and have just spent a fascinating 90 minutes or so reading up on him across the web. I might get that professor's book. I'm looking for a copy that doesn't cost a million pounds.
posted by: lindy (reply)
post date: 02.07.08 (1:57 pm)
Thought I saw you waving in the distance. Hello, stranger. Hope you are well - you and yours, of course. :)
posted by: lindy (reply)
post date: 07.30.08 (11:59 am)
I did! I did! I did thee a puddytat! ;)
posted by: lindy (reply)
post date: 08.21.09 (10:27 am)
The creature stirs. ;) Greetings, Sir. Trust you're well, as we are.