The missing link! I’ve found the missing link! I’ve been fascinated by David Larkin’s editorial work in the ’70s pretty much since I realized that he was behind the majority of a white-covered art books that hit shelves during that time, but it is hard to find a definitive list of books that he produced — “editor” isn’t reliably credited in the usual databases, and in the case of a book like Gnomes, with clear author and illustrator credit, no one is going to flag that as a “David Larkin” book. I still don’t have a full accounting of his books, but I am pretty sure the art series started with Magritte, in 1972. From there, through 1975, he produced a number of books featuring 19th and turn of the century artists like Arthur Rackham, the Pre-Raphaelites and Carl Larsson. In 1976, Gnomes came out, and Larkin’s books suddenly showcased contemporary artists like Alan Lee, Sulamith Wülfing and even Salvador Dali, who was still alive at the time, and featured an increasing focus on fantasy. Lacking any evidence, I’ve had to just accept that Gnomes was a “Eureka!” moment for Larkin, but I’ve always suspected there was a pivot point.
I was right! It’s Once Upon a Time (1976), a curiously scarce (but inexpensive) book subtitled “Some Contemporary Illustrators of Fantasy.” That subtitle gives the distinct impression of a concept not entirely fleshed out, of experimentation. The selection of work inside follows suit — it’s all good stuff, but seems a bit of a grab-bag. It reminds me a bit of the way Stewart Cowley forged narrative art books like the Terran Trade Authority (1978-1979) series out of a bunch of stuff laying about the art agency. Perhaps with good reason, as this book is an extension of Larkin’s work in organizing the UK’s Association of Illustrators. There’s no overarching narrative (like we would soon see in Gnomes) but much of the featured work was previously unpublished, making it feel like a collection of portfolios in a way.
Some killer artist in here, as you might imagine. The first plate is a four-page fold-out of Pauline Ellison’s covers for the Earthsea trilogy. Brian Froud gets a lot of room (he’d get a whole book from Larkin a few years later, in addition to Faeries). Ian Miller and Alan Lee also stand out — I don’t think any of their pieces in here have been recollected since. There are other artists that are great that I am not too familiar with — Chris McEwan and Wayne Anderson in particular. But it is the presence of Froud, Lee and Miller who really indicate how Larkin understood (and influenced) the future of fantasy art.
