Fitzgerald's Ariel

“Ariel” by John Anster Fitzgerald, 1858. A beautiful fairy whose skin, wings, and dress are so pale they are almost invisible. She reclines effortlessly on a tree branch surrounded by large, white blossoms and an array of very colourful, strange birds. John Anster Fitzgerald, 1819-1906, was a Victorian era fairy painter and portrait artist. He was nicknamed "Fairy Fitzgerald" for his main genre. Many of his fairy paintings are dark and contain images of ghouls, demons, and references to drug use. Fitzgerald created "remarkable fairy pictures of pure fantasy, rarely based on any literary theme. As an artist, Fitzgerald appears to have been largely self-taught. His work was first shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1845; he also exhibited at the British Institution, the Society of British Artists, and the Watercolor Society.