Sightseeing Saturday

Week 4

This week’s discovery is a French/British illustrator by the name Edmund Dulac (1882-1953). I stumbled upon an illustration on Substack (thank you,

Chloe Calabria

) and I later searched for more information.

The children books illustrated by Dulac are just splendidly crafted, and I would absolutely adore to get my hands on one. Because of his splendid rendering, he became a representative figure in the Golden Age of Illustration, along with art giants like Charles Dana Gibson (the creator of the Gibson Girl <3), Beatrix Potter (the heart behind Peter Rabbit <3), Leyendecker (my absolute love for his rendering is uncompared), N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish.

But Dulac has completely slipped away from me, and so I went on a deep-dive, as I love to do. All images are from WikiArt:

He also illustrated my favorite fairytales, the ones by Hans Christian Andersen. I don’t know why I’ve had a soft spot for them since 2nd grade.

But the most surprising thing I stumbled upon was that Dulac illustrated a children’s book, A Dreamer of Dreams, written by Queen Mary of Romania in 1915. ¹

Look at how he adapted his style and how the character is wearing an embroidered traditional Romanian dress

A weird feeling flooded me as I was studying these works. It’s sort of a nostalgia for the moment before technology became this huge part of our lives. I actually remember how life was before the internet, which was around the age of 15.

Of course there are a lot of factors that influence this but I remember that, even with all the inevitable teenager drama I had, or the noise around me, I had clarity in my head and heart.

Was it the definition of ignorance is bliss? I don’t know. It was a time when I read the most books (ever), I could start a book in the morning and finish it by night. And I was drawing a lot, just because I felt like it, just for me, there was no pressure, other than finding a perfect moment when nobody would disturb me. I was listening to music like a maniac on drugs.

I had to rush home to answer an email, and that instance was rare. I could browse the internet, but mainly it happened on the weekends (and I shared a desktop with my siblings, and being the youngest… I had to fight for my right to party).

And I had time to wonder and daydream. Yes, I was a kid, but still. I had the mind-space for it.

Now, it seems that even when I shut my phone off, it’s still in my head. It’s never-ending, the white noise. I wonder what happened with X? What year was this? Hm, I need that recipe. I should research what face cream before I buy it. Maybe the jeans I wanted are back in stock.

It’s absolutely mental. I’ve been dragging The Fellowship of the Ring since December, and still haven’t finished it. So besides the constant brain-fog, I have a constant shame that I am twice the age and half the person I was when I was 15.

My brain, that’s the only thing I miss from that time. I need to get it back.

1. I found here a beautiful edition: https://www.pookpress.co.uk/shop/dreamer-of-dreams-edmund-dulac/