DARK ARTS: Abigail Larson

The Alchemist's wife

If you are a lover of the Victorian England aesthetic than you will fall head over heels for Abigail Larson’s illustrative art.

The Virginian artist’s work has been featured all over the United States as well as in galleries in Paris, London, and Madrid; she has appropriately been featured twice at the Poe Museum in Richmond. She has illustrated various books, comics and posters including Sarah Faire and the House at the End of the World and the covers of such anthologies as Beyond the Pale (edited by Henry Herz), The Mysterious Affair at Styles & The Secret Adversary (Agatha Christie), and The Book of Whispering Spirits (Jeff Ferrell). Prints and other fun items are available for sale here (http://society6.com/abigaillarson)

Abigail, herself, is a lover of Poe, Shelley and the gothic masters of the time, and she recreates these worlds in her artwork. Many of her paintings directly reference Poe—she has many portraits of characters like Ligeia, Madeline Usher and even the master scribe, himself. Her pieces reek of gothic mystery, and peering into them one can almost smell the dusty tomes or the stinging aroma of lilies. Her portraits are of milk-skinned maidens dressed in the gorgeous fashions of the 19th century, or tall, gaunt men in cloaks and waistcoats.

As usual, it was extremely hard for me to select just a few examples of her work, so please continue to view her creations on her deviantART (http://abigaillarson.deviantart.com/), or on her website (http://www.abigaillarson.com/).

Halloween Queen

Spirits of the Dead

Till death do us part

When the last rose of summer is gone