Henry Darger

Henry Darger was a man of many secrets. He lived most of his life hidden away in his dark room, creating what many people today would consider marvelous works of art.

Many people today would consider Henry Darger to be crazy because of the uniqueness seen through his artwork. His paintings were something no one had ever seen before, different in a way most society was not ready for. In fact after seeing his work, most people would consider him to be mentally ill. I think that Henry was not sick mentally or physically, he was just different. In society today it’s hard for things that go against the social norm to be accepted and that just how Henry was. Most of his life he spent locked away in his room, writing an autography to his life, creating pictures, and talking to himself. In my opinion, Henry wasn’t mentally ill he just had a mind with more creativity than the world was ready for.

Henry spent most of his life locked up in his room hidden away from the world. The fact that he kept his work secret from everyone even his family showed exactly how he felt about society. Henry wasn’t looking to be accepted by society. He didn’t put the value of his artwork in others opinions, he painted what he wanted and was satisfied with it. Unlike artist today will change their painting style based on what’s popular, Henry painted only what he saw. I think inside he knew his work would be rejected by society so he kept it to himself. The world can be one of the harshest critics on artist today, but to Henry the value of his artwork was seen through his eyes not others.

In my opinion creativity is doing or making something that is unique to the person doing it. I don’t think think creativity is something that should be judged by society, I think its something seen in the eyes of the beholder. Just because people might reject an idea doesn’t mean it’s not creative. I think Henry revealed how creative he was trough his artwork. His paintings were something no one had ever seen before; they were new and unique. In fact they were so different people began calling him mentally ill. Even if Henry was mentally ill, the fact that he created something new made him just as creative as anybody.