While fantasy art has some origins in religion, it is more heavily influenced by mythology and folklore. It seems to have evolved in parallel in many different parts of the world, from ancient Greek mythology to African magical traditions and Chinese folklore. Ancient depictions of fantasy artwork hanging in galleries across the world depict images of demons, angels, gods, dragons, and spirits. It is still very popular today, although newer works are not generally considered to be “fine art.”

In the 1500s, Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch can be viewed as one of the most prominent fantasy artists in history. He is famous for his triptych “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” The first panel shows Adam and Eve in paradise, the second a world full of earthly delights, and the third hell, filled with various types of sinners. There is some debate over whether his artwork was intended to represent orthodox religious views, to satirize the church, or merely to amuse.

Fantasy art saw an explosion in popularity in the twentieth century as photography made more traditional depictions, in some sense, obsolete. Where other movements began focusing on alternative ways of depicting images such as expressionism, cubism, and abstraction, fantasy artists would depict images that had a traditional aesthetic, but an impossible representation. They are similar to surrealist artists in this sense.

While there is often a great deal of skill involved, it is rarely considered to be part of the Western canon. It is more heavily associated with the fantasy subculture than the art house crowd, and doesn’t often find its way into galleries. There are some exceptions, such as The Castle in the Pyrenees by Rene Magritte, a castle sitting atop a floating mountain. But Magritte’s work as a whole is more closely tied to the surrealist movement. The same goes for John William Waterhouse, whose work was influenced by Greek mythology, but is considered to be Pre-Raphaelite rather than fantasy.

Today it has become very popular among fans of fantasy fiction. It is probably because of its popularity that it is often ignored by the academic crowd.

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