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Henry Darger, Throw Away boy : : the Tragic Life of an Outsider Artist

Elledge, Jim, 1950- Book - 2013 921 Darger, Henry 1 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4 out of 5

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Call Number: 921 Darger, Henry
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor
4-week checkout
921 Darger, Henry 4-week checkout On Shelf

"Henry Darger was utterly unknown during his lifetime, keeping a quiet, secluded existence as a janitor on Chicago's North Side. When he died his landlord discovered a treasure trove of more than three hundred canvases and more than 30,000 manuscript pages depicting a rich, shocking fantasy world-many showing hermaphroditic children being eviscerated, crucified and strangled. While some art historians tend to dismiss Darger as an unhinged psychopath, in Henry Darger, Throw-Away Boy, Jim Elledge cuts through the cloud of controversy and rediscovers Darger as a damaged, fearful, gay man, raised in a world unaware of the consequences of child abuse or gay shame. This thoughtful, sympathetic biography tells the true story of a tragically misunderstood artist. Drawn from fascinating histories of the vice-ridden districts of 1900s Chicago, tens of thousands of pages of primary source material, and Elledge's own work in queer history, the book also features a full-color reproduction of a never-before-seen canvas from a private gallery in New York, as well as a previously undiscovered photograph of Darger with his life-partner Whillie. Engaging and arresting, Henry Darger, Throw-Away Boy brings alive a complex, brave, and compelling man whose outsider art is both challenging and a triumph over trauma"-- Provided by publisher.

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PUBLISHED
New York : Overlook Hardcover, 2013.
Year Published: 2013
Description: 384 p.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9781590208557 : HRD
1590208552 : HRD

SUBJECTS
Darger, Henry, -- 1892-1972.
Outsider artists -- Biography.
Watercolorists -- Biography.