Dante's Inferno Watercolor Paintings, 1950's

9th Circle Treachery

Canto 3 Gate To Hell, Lost Souls Outside

Geryon Leading Dante To The 8th Ring Of Hell

7th Circle Woods Of Sucides

Virgil At The Entrance Of Hell

Dark Woods With 3 Beasts At Opening Of Poem

Thieves And Burning Soul

These watercolor paintings on illustration board are inspired by Dante Alighieri's "Inferno" the first part of his 14th-century poem, "Divine Comedy." The artist is unknown but the artworks were found in the midwestern United States and date circa the 1950's. 

All artworks were provided by Stephen Romano.

Sascha Schneider (1870 - 1927)

The Shaman, 1901
 Around A Soul
 Gram, 1894-95
 To A Soul

Hypnotism, 1904
 A Reunion, 1900
 Eins is Not! (One thing is Necessary!)
 Perseus and Andromeda, 1924
 Mammon and his Slave, 1896
 Triumph of Darkness, 1896
 A Feeling of Dependence, 1920 (version 3)

William Mortensen (1897-1965)

Self Portrait of William Mortensen and Courtney Crawford, 1926

It is an honor to share with you the following works by the great William Mortensen.  Many of the following images have not been shown publicly before and were taken from the original prints exclusively for Monster Brains by Stephen Romano. Also included here are original masks designed by Mortensen that were photographed by Stephen from his personal collection.  He has provided a wealth of incredibly high resolution and beautiful copies of many of William Mortensen's greatest works that I share with you below, enjoy.

Ho Ho Off To The Sabboth, 1926

A Tantric Priest, 1930

L'amour, 1930

The Incubus, 1924 - 26

Belphegor, 1930

The Vampire's Retribution, 1928

Preperation For The Sabbot, 1930

The Old Hag, 1928

The Worship of Isis, The Moon Goddess, 1924

Der Wahre Jacob (1884–1933)

Otto Emil Lau - How the carbon dioxide in the Ruhr district is concerned about the common good, 1904

Unsigned - The Terror of Europe, 1916

Emil Erk - The Peace Dove, 1902

Hans Gabriel Jentzsch - From the good neighbor, 1905

Hans Gabriel Jentzsch - The Council of the Devil, 1899

A. Mrawek - Father's Dreams, 1909

Unsigned - The German Fleet Lindwurm, 1906

Maximilian Vanselow - First May, 1909

Hans Gabriel Jentzsch - Tsar Nicholas in the Wolf Gorge, 1917

Unsigned - Ein Spuk am hellen, lichten Tage, 1900

Julius Diez (1870 - 1957)

John Bull's Dream, 1917

The Marriage, 1912

British Profithunger, 1914
 Germany and It's Fiend, 1914
 The Unsatisfied Field, 1902
 The American Sea Serpent, 1903

Demon
 European Sabbath, 1917
 The Tribute, 1904
 Christening For Chamberlain, 1902

Max Mayrshofer (1875-1950)

"In stark contrast to his classic, impressionist painting of the later period, Mayrhofer's sketchbooks contain a multitude of whimsical, grotesque drawings with demons, skeletons and fables. As early as 1912, Wilhelm Michel wrote: "For a while, his imagination had been felled by the creation of fabulous animal bodies which are not equal in the grotesque art of our cultural circle. He has drawn them into a book, diary-like, like hypochondria melancholy and bawdy mood. " Whether this ambiguity in his work is expression of his personality, or whether Mayrshofer as a professor at the art academy had to follow the taste of so-called "German art" propagated in this epoch, can not be explained with certainty to this day.

 It is known from his diaries that Mayrshofer has suffered from a severe renal disease and severe neuralgia since childhood. That is why medical questions were repeatedly occupied by him in his presentations. In a sketch book with the inscription "Nice Drawings" he sketches patients, doctors and death, who dwells as a skeleton among the living. In the midst of the sick and the dead, he represents himself." quote source

All artworks were originally published in the German art magazine Jugend.
A website for the artist can be viewed here.