Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe 1923

This illustration, Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe, was made by Harry Clarke at an unknown date. Look at the way he's embraced the night, every inch of this composition is teeming with detail. It's like a garden but it's made of ink! The landscape is built with these obsessive lines, they're so small and there are so many of them, it's as if he's trying to capture every leaf and every ripple of shadow. See the statue, perched on a mountain that says 'SILENCE', she is so still. This focus on detail and texture gives the work a slightly gothic feel. The plants at the front look ominous and otherworldly, there's even a skull on the ground. It makes me think about other artists who deal in a similar, macabre fantasy; maybe someone like Odilon Redon, another one for the night owls. The world of art is an ongoing conversation, isn't it? Clarke's approach reminds us that art is about embracing mystery, not solving it.