Johnathan Barry, Irish painter of the sublime!

While in the Writer's Museum in Dublin, a few of us came upon some interesting artwork by an Irish man, Johnathan Barry, who paints scenes from literature. Some of his works that caught my eye were prints from Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, but some of his other prints were less carefree and childish. There were many prints from stories that were aimed more at adults, such as The Lord of the Rings, and even Dracula.

Seeing these paintings from a man born and raised in Dublin made me think about what we were studying, namely the atmosphere and settings that inspired Bram Stoker and Sheridan LeFanu. While it is quite interesting to see the things that inspired the horror writers of the late 19th century, it made me realize that Stoker and LeFanu have inspired many people who have come after them, Johnathan Barry possibly being one of them.

Barry has prints that depict scenes from both Carmilla by LeFanu (below, right) and Dracula by Stoker (below, left). He also has artwork, such as that depicting Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings exploding, which is obviously influenced by the sublime painters like Turner that we saw in the Tate Gallery in London. It is pretty safe to say that Barry was influenced by Stoker and LeFanu as is shown through his artwork. It is interesting to not only understand who and what influenced our Irish and English horror writers, but who and what they influenced as well (insert Twilight reference here...).