Tolkien: A Look Back at a Master

By Anna Tochennikova @ Shutterstock.com

I’ve written to you before about my family’s enjoyment of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Undoubtedly Tolkien is one of the best known authors of all time, but what is less known is Tolkien’s use of visual arts as an aid and accompaniment for his written works. Now, at the Bodleian Libraries’ Weston Library of Oxford University, fans of Tolkien can see an exhibition of his works. Michael FitzGerald writes of the exhibition in The Wall Street Journal:

Under the guidance of his mother, who came from a family of engravers, Tolkien began drawing and painting as a child. By the time he entered Oxford’s Exeter college in 1911, he was an accomplished amateur, whose skill ranged from architectural renderings of the city’s historical buildings to nearly abstract, fantastical landscapes rendered in brilliant watercolors. While only the daydreams of an undergraduate, these imagined views were among the first seeds of his mature creations.

In fact, Tolkien was a consummate amateur. He never received professional training as an artist or a writer of fiction. He earned a living as a professor of English at Leeds and Oxford.

As he began composing “The Hobbit” in the late 1920s and ’30s, Tolkien relied on his skills as a visual artist to bring to life the places his characters inhabited. Readers of the novel are familiar with the intricately finished watercolors he painted in 1937 for the first American edition of the book. His style benefited from the work of Arthur Rackham and other artists in a great age of illustration, but Tolkien also infused his images with the sinuous lines and scintillating patterns of Art Nouveau. Most famously, “The Hill: Hobbiton-Across-the Water” presents an image of tilled fields, blossoming trees and pristine architecture bordering a road that meanders to Bilbo’s round front door high on a hill. The abundant detail of this scene conveys a fuller impression of the Shire than any description in “The Hobbit.” Sometimes Tolkien’s visual imagination surpassed his verbal descriptions.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

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