It may shock you to know the quietest, seemingly most banal people are amazing writers and artists incognito. Before you write off that old man next door, stop and realize you may be living next to a treasure trove of knowledge and imagination. You may be looking at the next Henry Darger…
Great Artist In Disguise
Henry Darger lived a troubled life and had a very harsh childhood. Few people knew the recluse and fewer had any contact with him on any regularity except for his landlord. He had been quiet, keep odd jobs, and kept to himself. He died a poor and lonely man. That was when the world first caught a glimpse of the secret Henry Darger. The glimpse would open a fantasy world which today is by far the most prominent and prolific example of outsider art in art history.
When Darger died in a Catholic mission, his landlord went in to retrieve Darger’s personal effects and was astonished by what he saw. In the cluttered apartment of the old shut-in, filled with odds and ends and horded objects, was a buried wealth of art and literature which Henry had created over the last six decades of his life.
A 15,145 page book called “In The Realms of the Unreal,” which was typed and profusely illustrated by Henry, must be one of the largest examples of fantasy fiction, and shows the same magnitude of the imagination of its author. The book spreads across 15 volumes about a war of abused children against an evil army. Much of the book was influenced by Henry’s early childhood living in orphanages and asylums. Several hundred illustrations include drawings and watercolor scrolls.
An 8 volume 5,084 page autobiography was found, “The History of My Life,” which described his life on the first 200 or so pages, and then blended into a fantastical account of a tornado called, “Sweetie Pie.” Darger also kept a faithful recording of the weather in a journal which spanned a decade. 10,000 pages of yet another book called, “Crazy Horse” was completely hand-written.
For decades the man wrote and drew illustrations for these works which meant the world to him. He was deeply upset about the abuses of children and found the books as a way to vent his frustration. After he failed to adopt a child he found a pseudo-replacement in a photograph of a murdered young girl. When he lost the photograph, Henry was distraught and could take it no longer. That was when he began “In The Realms of the Unreal,” and vowed that the loses of these two children “shall be avenged to the uttermost limit.”
This amazing secret aspect about Henry Darger’s life could never have been guessed in a hundred years by the people who knew him or happened to come across him. After he passed away, his landlords took care of his estate with all his artworks and helped to immortalize Darger by recognizing the true artist that he was.
Today, Darger is the most famous Outside Artist with works going for upwards of $80,000. At the American Folk Museum in New York, the Henry Darger Study Center was opened in 2001. In 2004, a documentary was filmed “In The Realms of the Unreal,” detailing the artist’s life and works.
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