Illustrations to the Literature of John R.R. Tolkien: Place in the History of Book Illustration (Mid XX – Early XXI Century)

Fiction literature illustrations accompany books for many centuries of their existence. Illustrations to works in the fantasy genre have some special features, which haven’t been adequately researched before. The illustrations to literature of fantasy genres are significantly different from any others by the approach of illustrators, as the artists use their imagination in that genre much more than in any other. In this research, the work of the most famous illustrators of J.R.R. Tolkien’s literature is analyzed on the bases of «The Hobbit», «The Lord of the Rings» and «The Silmarillion». As well Tolkien’s illustrations to his own literature are analyzed in the separated chapter of the research, as his illustrations influenced the visual adaptations of other artists. More than 90 illustrations and 11 interviews (all artists were interviewed by the research’s author in 2015-2017) are analyzed in the text of the research. Analysis of visual and written sources, materials of Internet resources allowed to reveal the styles of illustrators, the level of their study of Tolkien's texts in the connection with their depictions of different places of action, characters and events of Tolkien's works. In addition, the sources of different illustrator’s inspirations are determined in the work - illustrations and paintings of past centuries artists that influenced various features of illustrations for Tolkien's works: composition, colour scheme, image style. The peculiarities of the influence of illustrations on the screen version of Tolkien's works were also identified. As well the illustration’s influence on the movies was determined. Conclusions allow to determine the place of illustrations to the John R.R. Tolkien’s literature in the history of book illustration.