J.R.R.Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892- 1973) painted throughout his life, with both words and images. Although the crafting of Middle-Earth lore was his inveterate passion (little need be said of his identity as author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings), Tolkien’s chosen career was that of a professor of Language and Literature, first at Leeds then at Oxford University. He wrote and edited a number of scholarly works, wrote several non-hobbited stories, and even translated the book of Jonah for the Jerusalem Bible. Tolkien’s visual artistry, although less known, was an integral aspect of his identity: his scholar-son Christopher has declared that no study of Tolkien’s written work can be complete without also considering his visual art. First tutored by his mother, Tolkien continued exploring and experimenting with visual art throughout his life. His cover work and illustrations of Middle Earth texts are familiar to some of his readers, but they are a limited representation. Tolkien’s art is profoundly influenced by nature – ‘pastoral landscape’ is a dominant subject matter – but he did not choose one particular form of expression: he admired Giotto, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Van Dyck, Arthur Rackham, Japanese Ukiyo-e, and played with such varying influences as Art Nouveau, Oriental Bamboo Art, Cubism, Expressionism, Post-Impressionism and the Symbolists. Although some of these styles are only evidenced occasionally, their existence establishes Tolkien’s awareness of and interest in modern art. It also confirms that JRRT was not indiscriminately adverse to new ideas or expressions. The Father Christmas Letters (a more accurate label would be The Father Christmas Art, for the images are never subservient to the text although sometimes the inverse is true) were never intended for publication, and were printed after Tolkien’s death. Various editions have been produced, but none of them exhaustive in either image or text. The most complete published collection is the 2012 edition by HarperCollins. For further information on Tolkien as artist, visit http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Category:Images_by_J.R.R._Tolkien and http://www.tolkienestate.com/en/learning/tolkien-and-visual-arts/tolkiens-art.html