List of books published on or by artists inspired by Tolkien
I recently started a little thread over with the wonderful people at Tolkienguide.com (Opens in a new window) called List of books published on or by artists inspired by Tolkien (Opens in a new window) because I had been 'talking' to Joel Merriner on Twitter about art books/ artists inspired by Tolkien and there was no such list yet (he is doing - among many other things - the amazing Arda Illuminated (Opens in a new window) series on Youtube I can only highly recommend).
I am copy-pastying the thread from TG over here for one reason - I'll keep it updated on both sides of the internet pond, so to speak - and that is that I am going to order books from this list and do quick reviews on them for you. I will try and concentrate on all the outstanding art that we have from before the film trilogies as well as art since then that is truly original.
If you happen to have any suggestions and/or ideas for this list I would be quite happy to hear them!
Tolkien-inspired artists with stand-alone publications
Blok, Cor. Tolkien Tapestry. 9780007437986 (Opens in a new window) [HarperCollins, 2011]
Giancola, Donato. Middle-earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend. 9781506710860 (Opens in a new window) [Dark Horse Books, 2019]
Hague, Michael. The Illustrated Hobbit. 9780395520215 (Opens in a new window) [Houghton Mifflin, 1984]
Hildebrandt (Brothers). The Tolkien Years. 9781606903490 (Opens in a new window) [Dynamite Entertainment, 2012]
Johnstone, Jay. Tolkienography. [privately published (Opens in a new window), 2019]
Lacon, Ruth. The Art of Ruth Lacon: Illustrations Inspired by the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien 9780955190001 (Opens in a new window) [ADC Books, 2005]
Wyatt, Joan. A Middle-earth Album: Paintings by Joan Wyatt 9780500271582 (Opens in a new window) [Thames & Hudson, 1979]
Tolkien art anthologies
Realms of Tolkien 9780061055324 (Opens in a new window) [Harper Voyager, 1996]
Tolkien Bestiary, A. David Day 9780345282835 (Opens in a new window) [Ballantine Books/ Mitchell Beazley, 1979] Still the single best art anthology - by far.
Tolkien's Middle-Earth and Monsters Postcard Book: A Book of 40 Postcards 9780007142590 (Opens in a new window) [HarperCollins, 2002; Lee & Howe] Tolkien Scrapbook/ A Tolkien Treasury. 9780448164557 (Opens in a new window) [Running Press, 1978]
Tolkien's World. 9780261102767 (Opens in a new window) [HarperCollins, 1992]
Publications containing work of Tolkien-inspired artists
Alexander, Rob. Welcome to my Worlds: The Art of Rob Alexander. 9781843402008 (Opens in a new window) [Paper Tiger, 2005] Mostly known for his Magic: The Gathering and ME:TW work but the Witch-king is on the title page
Dolfen, Jenny. Journeys 2016-2019. [privately published (Opens in a new window), 2019]
Dolfen, Jenny. Songs of Sorrow and Hope [Oloris Publishing, 2015, out of print but available as PDF]
Frazetta, Frank. Testament: A Celebration of the Life & Art of Frank Frazetta 9781887424622 (Opens in a new window) [Underwood Books, 2001] 5+ illustrations]
Garland, Linda and Roger. Garlands of Fantasy: The Art of Linda and Roger Garland 9781850283447 (Opens in a new window) [Paper Tiger, 1994]
Gregory, Paul Raymond. Beyond Time and Place: The Art of Paul Raymond Gregory 9780957309500 (Opens in a new window) [Studio 54 Publications, 2012]
Hickman, Stephen. The Art of Stephen Hickman 9781783298457 (Opens in a new window) [Titan Books, 2015] 15 illustrations + essay by Hickman
Kaluta, Michael. Wings of Twilight: The Art of Michael Kaluta 9781561632763 (Opens in a new window) [NBM Publishing, 2001]
Kirk, Tim. Kirk's Works: An Index of the Art of Tim Kirk. 9780960327614 (Opens in a new window) [Heresy Press, 1980]
Matthews, Rodney. The Rodney Matthews Portfolio 9781585028137 (Opens in a new window) [Paper Tiger, 1990]
Whelan, Michael. Michael Whelan's Works of Wonder 978-0-345-32679-9 (Opens in a new window) [Del Rey, 1987] The Eagles are coming
Well-known artists without any stand-alone publications
Inger Edelfeldt
Soni Alcorn-Hender
Film-related art
The Film Book of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings 9780345281395 (Opens in a new window) [Ballantine Books, 1978] Bakshi film art
Please note
All the links given here are to Bookfinder.com (Opens in a new window), the antiquarian search owned by Amazon. Local search engines for second hand books may exist in your country - if there is a good option to search books in your country/ language I'd be delighted to add a list to this post as well.
Update May, 2022 List put into alphabetical order by artist's name + additions.
This post was originally published (Opens in a new window) on Jan 31, 2022.
