My favorite artists - John Bauer

I intend to talk about the above book in a later post, because I want to write something about Swedish folklore, however here I want to discuss John Bauer's art specifically. John Bauer is perhaps the best artist when it comes to illustrating stories and creatures from Sweden's folklore and mythology. I don't know that much about him as a person beyond what I learned in the preface of the book, but I primarily make these types of posts just to introduce more people to art and things they may never have explored.

A really fun way to experience his art (and pieces of Swedish culture) is to play the game Bramble: The mountain king which features many things inspired by his work and it's a bit like being part of a Swedish fairytale yourself (Though the stories, like all fairytales, are full of terror and danger.)

Here are a few of my favorite works, I hope you enjoy them and if you do I hope you'll seek out John Bauer's works for yourself.

"Here is a piece of a troll herb which nobody else but me can find"

"Still, Tuvstarr sits and gazes down into the water"

"Look at my sons! You won't find more beautiful trolls on this side of the moon"

Please look at this gallery of his work for yourself!

I have been sleeping with his book under my pillow and really enjoying reading it, so I will make a post about a few Swedish folklore books very soon.