Henry Darger: Work Born of Genius or Mental Illness?

(Henry Darger - Untitled II (At Jennie Richee, they admire the beauty of the tropical nimbus clouds), n.d. Watercolor, pencil and collage on paper (click photo for larger image)American outsider artist and writer Henry Darger (1892-1973) is known for his epic fantasy more than 15,000 pages long and his colorful, often disturbing watercolors and collages. His works were discovered shortly before his death and recognized only posthumously by the wider world. Darger’s illustrations are recognizable by the artist’s lavish palette, the use of the entire page, and complex compositions that often include repetitive figures of young girls. Darger is widely regarded as the paradigmatic outsider artist. His fame rests not only on the quality of his work but also on the late recognition of his secret creative output and his tragic and reclusive life. Darger lost both of his impoverished parents at an early age. An intelligent child, he was first enrolled in a public school, was eventually moved to a Catholic school, and ultimately was institutionalized in the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children. Despite an obvious intelligence, it was determined that "little Henry's heart is not in the right place”.  The Lincoln asylum's practices included forced labor and severe punishments. Eventually, Darger served briefly in the U.S. Army during WWI, and afterwards lived a humble, solitary life. He earned his wages as a janitor. Art critics and scholars continue to debate whether his work was born of genius or of mental illness. 

Darger’s most-astounding production is the epic entitled in full, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, or In the Realms of the Unreal. The story follows seven girls, the Vivian Girls of the Catholic nation Abbieannia, who attempt to rescue kidnapped children enslaved by the atheistic and villainous Glandelinians. The tale, loosely based on events from the American Civil War, pits heroic children against evil, abusive adults. Darger first wrote the story in longhand and later typed it and added illustrations. He worked on the project for 43 years.

The 300 watercolors he made to accompany his story bring the tale of destruction and heroism to life, often in graphic detail. The paintings, some of which measure up to 12 feet wide, illustrate the children’s vulnerability against their captors. The enslaved children are white, pale, and unclothed and are typically rendered androgynous or with boys’ genitalia. Darger traced and cut figures from comics and children’s books into his work, because, probably because he felt he did not have the skill to draw people without them.