TODAY'S FEATURED POST

Icons of the Fantastic

Arnie Fenner

My shelves groan and bow and creak with our collection of art books and artist biographies; by this point in my life probably the last thing I need is another—and yet ... I didn't hesitate for a moment to get a copy of Icons of the Fantastic: Illustrations of Imaginative Literature from the Korshak Collection. I couldn't help myself. Because it's really not your typical f&sf art book, not by a long shot. Above: "The…

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YESTERDAY’S POST

Image

Rückenfigur

Lauren Panepinto

September 4, 2025 - I didn't know there was a word for this until recently, but of course there is, and of course it's German. Rückenfigur (literally "back-figure") is a compositional device in painting, graphic art, photography, and film. A person is seen from behind in the foreground of the image, contemplating the view before them, and is a means by which the viewer can identify with the image's figure and then recreate the space to be conveyed. (from Wikipedia) The textbook example of this is this image is Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog: And in fact, I only heard the term Rückenfigur at all because there was just a Caspar David Friedrich exhibit at The Met. He loved this device and it shows up in his work a number of times:   Obviously Friedrich…

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