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ArtThe Wonderful Art of Oz William Wallace Denslow’s illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) bleed pictures across full pages and taunt the frame with chiseled, lacy, intervening images. His pen led him, at the turn of the twentieth century, to places other children’s illustrators wouldn’t go. So did his liking for asymmetry and for the unfettered use of color at a time when the children’s genre did less with little. The sardonic wit of Denslow—a sometime dandy and hard drinker—shod the doleful Tin Woodman with spats (look closely) and gave the important oilcan double duty as a cocktail glass. He was brave enough to make Dorothy, the heroine, appear ugly. He had the gall to compete with the author himself on many a page of Oz, where a ... You need to login to view the full text of this article. This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 25 December 2006, on page 45 Copyright © 2008 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/exhibition-note-4-2540
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