Escaping into the Creative Imagination: A Case Study of James J. Guthrie and the Pear Tree Press

Author

Hayley Harlow, University of KentuckyFollow

Year of Publication

2018

College

Fine Arts

Department/School/Program

Art and Visual Studies

Research Mentor

Carol Street

Abstract

This paper focuses upon the collection of works by Scottish printmaker James J. Guthrie (1874-1952) housed in the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center. The collection includes numerous prints, drawings, and book plates from the Pear Tree Press, the private press Guthrie operated in England from 1899 until his death. My research will in part analyze the influence of the Romantic period in Guthrie’s work, particularly that of William Blake, as well as the connection between Guthrie’s own creative autonomy and the Romantic movement’s notion of poetic genius. It will examine this revival of Romantic poetry in comparison to the emerging modern fantasy genre within the first half of the 20th century, asking how these parallel forms of escapism inspired by nature and folklore give their respective creators access to cultural roots within a post-industrial, modernized world.

Notes

This paper was presented at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research held at the University of Central Oklahoma in April 2018.

Recommended Citation

Harlow, Hayley, "Escaping into the Creative Imagination: A Case Study of James J. Guthrie and the Pear Tree Press" (2018). Special Collections Research Center Learning Lab Student Research. 1.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/libraries_scrc_lab/1