Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy: The Tragic Life of an Outsider Artist Hardcover – September 12, 2013

Jim Elledge's 'Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy: The Tragic Life Of An Outsider Artist' (2013) is an intelligent, highly detailed and compassionate, if speculative, exploration of the American 'outsider artist' whose work slowly came to the attention of the world after his death in 1973.Darger's life spent on the peripheries of society, and especially his extremely idiosyncratic paintings and writings, have represented a complex and problematic mosaic, one which has led such important cultural figures like Robert Hughes to label Darger an actual or potential "sadist, pedophile and serial killer." While some of Darger's images--especially those of naked little girls with tiny flaccid penises being slaughtered by adult men and monsters in fantastic landscapes--are certainly unique, eye-catching and potentially disturbing, a presumably erudite art critic and author like Hughes should have known better than to interpret such images literally.The correct response to Darger's enormous body of watercolors--if such a statement can be made--is awe, an awe so powerful that it precludes a harsh literal interpretation.Darger's early life was sadly typical of America's lower economic classes at the turn of the last century. Raised haphazardly by his alcoholic and often-absent father in a slum in the "vice district" of Chicago, Henry roamed the streets as a child, where, in trying to survive, he was sexually preyed upon by older men and where he learned to prey upon others around him in turn.Having spent his youth placed in or committed to various kinds of institutions where he was labeled "crazy," and where the short, slight Darger was almost completely at the mercy of predatory larger boys and harsh administrative disciplinarians, as an adult, Darger survived in poverty by working in a series of menial and relatively solitary janitorial positions.Retreating from the world which had rejected, scorned, and abused him, Darger began his surrealistic 15,145 page novel, 'In the Realms of the Unreal: The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion,' which concerned hunted and abused children in the fantastic land of Abbienna, and began illustrating it by tracing photos and illustrations taken from advertisements, magazines and newspapers.A fan of the original twelve Oz novels written by L. Frank Baum and the nineteen additional volumes continued by Ruth Plumly Thompson at Baum's behest, Darger's Abbienna can be interpreted as a nightmare vision of Oz, with not just a single female protagonist like Dorothy Gale of Kansas, but fully seven heroic sisters (known as 'the Vivian Girls' due to their surname), who, as the novel's title suggests, lead a rebellion against the evil Glandelinians that imprison, rape, slaughter and crucify children.As in many of the Oz novels, 'In the Realms of the Unreal' also featured a lone boy hero in Pendod Vivian (sole brother of the Vivian sisters), serene and Eden-like gardens of bountiful nature, and strange monsters and animal-human hybrids that are alternately good and evil. In Darger's Arcadian tableaus, little girls in yellow and red polka dot dresses carry strawberries the size of beach balls, flowering plants tower over their heads, cartoon birds and ducks vie for their attention, and 'guardian' dogs in the Rin Tin Tin and Lassie mold stand heroically off in the distance. These scenes could be taking in place in the Winkie or Quadling countries of Baum's famous fairyland, peaceable kingdoms that were also routinely threatened by invasion from the Gnome King, the Phanfasms, the Growleywogs, the Mimics and others.But the most direct influence came from Baum's second title, 1904's 'The Marvelous Land of Oz' in which the headstrong young General Jinjur leads an all-girl "army of revolt," and also features a boy hero, Tip, who literally turns into a pretty young girl in the novel's closing pages, for Tip is not just any boy, or a boy at all, but actually the blond-haired Princess Ozma of Oz, who has been transformed into an amnesiac young male by the evil witch Mombi's magic spell.In light of what Elledge reveals about Darger's upbringing and youth, there can be little doubt that 'In the Realms of the Unreal' was a cathartic act of self-exorcism in which the artist, consciously and otherwise, attempted to come to terms with the parade of abuses and other violent trespasses which had been the hallmark of his existence.Darger, from the first, seems to have been primarily oriented towards other men, and Elledge is to be commended for his broad and exhaustive exploration of Darger's psyche, the psyche so blatantly exposed--though not necessarily revealed--in his hundreds of brightly-painted images.Since Darger, who had only a broken lower education, simplistically believed that men who were attracted to other men should have been born female, he portrayed himself, via his now-infamous 'Vivian Girls' proxies, as a small army of pretty young sisters with male reproductive organs (it is notable that though Darger was rather passive in the face of adversity as an adult, the Vivian Girls are born fighters who lead a successful rebellion against an evil empire). But Elledge underscores that Darger did not perceive himself as 'transgendered,' that is, as a female erroneously born in a male's body, but simply as an individual who, solely based on his attraction to men, should have rightly been born female.Elledge spends almost no time examining how Darger created his amazing paintings, perhaps because there is no hard information available, Darger having worked in complete isolation. Elledge does, however, carefully detail Darger's two novels and other writing via the dozens of manuscripts, notes, and other written material the artist left behind. An angry but fervent Catholic, Darger's shifting religious beliefs are also thoroughly examined.Elledge is a proponent of "queer culture"--whatever that means exactly--and thus some may find his interpretation of Darger's behavior and psychology too narrow and somewhat politically skewed in the direction of what is called 'queer theory' by some.

It's been for a long time one of my favorite tales of a life lived in the Twentieth Century, along with Patti Smith's life and Leonard Cohen's. A boy abused by his relatives and society in the turn of the century 1900s, relegated to a school for Feeble Minded Children who ultimately runs away and finds his future in the harsh, unforgiving underbelly of Chicago. He gains employment as a janitor in a hospital, gains an apartment, and maintains each for the next sixty-plus years, seldom seen by neighbors, a life lived in tragic seclusion. When he dies, his landlord discovers, in the apartment's back room, a nearly 50,000 page manuscript and the walls covered in amazing watercolor illustrations, a rich universe onto itself, an outsider art treasure trove. That's the general story you hear and most of it is true. In these versions, Darger is often portrayed as borderline retarded or naive enough not to know that little girls don't have penises, as he frequently drew them. Or as a psychotic that secretly dreamed of killing children. Jim Elledge dispels many of the lazy generalizations made about this special man and relies on facts as he can find them- school records, rent records, employment records, first hand accounts, ect. He painstakingly goes into the zeitgeist of the times as well- the treatment of homosexuals in the early 1900s, of the mentally ill, the lives lived by those in the stark subcultures of Chicago. In doing so, Elledge is able to come to terms with the controversial artwork and frame the art, and the artist, in a reasonable, factual light. The real history of Henry Darger isn't simple, isn't Herculean, isn't romantic and certainly isn't a modern fantasy. It was a real life lived under difficult circumstances, a life Darger dealt with through his paintings, cut-outs and writings. This book makes Henry Darger truly human.

Ever since my recent discovery of Henry Darger, I've wanted to know more about him. Unfortunately, the info out there isn't very helpful, accusing Henry of being "crazy" and a "pedophile" with no concrete evidence whatsoever. This book changes all that by putting the reader in Darger's shoes, uncovering Henry's tragic childhood and heartbreaking adult life. I found myself empathizing with this poor man who was dealt such a sad lot in life. I commend Jim Elledge for his thorough and outstanding job in researching Darger. After reading this book, I can honestly say, I have an understanding of the talented and tortured soul, known as Henry Darger.

Although this is a fine book, it falls short because the illustrations are few and tiny. Darger's paintings were sometimes 10 and 12 feet in length. The book illuminates his deep relationship with William (Sloeder/Schroder?] and the careless abandon with which his father treated him, as well as Darger's tendency to gloss over and even lie about traumatic events in his life. The film shows us his art and how he appeared to others in his daily life but simplifies some things. (For instance, Henry says that his father was a kind and gentle man. Maybe so, but also a selfish drunk. The book tells a deeper and more disturbing story. The book also tries to illuminate Henry's sexual orientation.) Either one on its own falls a bit short of showing us this complicated artist. Together they present a fascinating and (IMHO) comprehensive overview of Henry Darger.