Henry Darger | Down the Rabbit Hole
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Henry Darger is responsible for crafting 30,000 pages of writing and approximately 300 original pieces of gorgeous (and sometimes terrifying) visual art, all of which was discovered only when he was on his deathbed in Chicago. However, few know his name and even fewer know where he came from. So who was this elusive, enigmatic figure?
Twitter: / fredintheknud
Patreon: / fredrikknudsen
"Too late now" like, damn. That moment of clarity where he realized people would have liked his works mustve been heavy
I think he was too scared to show them to anyone, it is a very odd concept and more about his personal mental state rather than a publishable book.
Still, would love to read them, 15,000 pages of that incredible artwork..
NewBenCity That and after the fact, people were accusing him of murder and sexualy abusing children... so ya.... depressing possible bullshit.
As an artist myself who feels perpetually stuck and working on a graphic novel but never being satisfied with how to start it, that shook me up really hard. I really have to get this thing done before I turn 70 years old!
+DamienZshadow
Not really an art person myself, but I'm rooting for ya!
Thank you!
Just imagine, there were probably more people out there like him, but their works were thrown in the trash. Henry only narrowly avoided being entirely unnoticed by the world.
There are probably less frequent now as it's easy to make a youtube channel or post online even if you are only partial to the idea. Not everyone ofcourse, just saying it's easier to publish now. Most of my art will never be seen as it was made for me and not anyone else, I'm sure many think like that.
there are millions of incredible artists in this day and age who's art goes entirely unrealized. The most talented artists rarely show their work and many times suffer from self esteem issues and extreme perfectionism, they dont share anything that they created usually because to them it isn't any good.
He was a pedophile and it's ashame his twisted mind actually came to light..
@@FluffyFerretFarm how's he a pedophile?
Hobo Knight i think he means that Darger is a pedophile because of his fascination with the purity of little girls/children in general. i disagree, i see Darger as more of an unknowing innocent himself. ironically, the worst and best he knows of barely goes beyond prepubescence.
Henry Darger was creating crazy spiritually-inspired stories with fantastical artwork and ridiculous titles before any JRPG developer in existence and I think that is beautiful.
The dude's headstone reads "Artist" and "Protector of Children"
Damn... that's heavy
God damn it dude, I know it's a year since you left this, but I had to look it up just to make sure you weren't shitting me, and all I can react with was "aww good for him"
ok
@@michaelphone8739ok
I think his early life on the farm/asylum fucked him up so much that he became obsessed with the idea of this perfect Christian nation where children are protected and live carefree lives.
And perhaps the prevalent nudity stemmed from the sexual abuse.
Man. Asylums fucked people UP back in the day.
Search for _Willowbrook State School_ -- Geraldo Rivera broke into fame with his expose on that children's asylum, footage is on youtube. It will truly disturb you.
Cherrycordial
Much like how any kind of abuse of children creates troubled adults.
Example that is not in reference of Darger: A male child sexually abused (or any kind of abuse that hurts their psyche, tho results are similar to the abuse) by an adult woman, can grow up into a rapist, pedophile or psychopath who'se victims are based on the abuser, though they could grow up normal and live a normal life, become reclusive, become normal tho very afraid of having children of their own due to fear of sexually abusing their own child or commit suicide at some point of their lives...
On other hand, Darger had no proper childhood, which would result in over-protective behaviour of children, that is usually viewed as pedophilia, one similar case would be Michael Jackson, who became a singer at young age which robbed him of childhood and lead to the weird childrens room.
I doubt the pedophilia accusations of MJ (I don't like his music anyway), when apparently parents of said abused children pulled off their accusations, once they got their money compensations, which is similar to some celebrities getting accusations of usually unprovable crimes dating over centuries.
Back to topic, Genius children should be allowed to decide themselves if they want to skip grades, not by adults with coercion...
666 likes on this comment holy shit
All those children are himself. Would make sense with the penises.
"However, this suddenly shifts from autobiography to a 5,000-page fiction detailing a devastating account of a tornado named Sweetie-Pie..."
Dude was nuts lol got it could draw cool shit tho
I wanted to know more about that story!
Yeah, that's peak weird. I don't think any artist can top that haha.
I think he was just an imaginative person, probably found the auto-biography to be boring and decided to make things more interesting.
Some habits are hard to break
“When one mentioned the artwork to him and complimented him on it, Darger reacted with surprise but all he replied with was ‘Too late now...’”
Damn, that shit hurted
"Too late, now."
Heartbreaking.
i hope so much that god really exists and that this man is enjoying heaven right now
I am an atheist, but I do hope he is somewhere lovely. As an artist that has taught themself, and is extremely misunderstood and quiet, I know how much it means to have your art seen and cared about. It is a depressing shame that he never got to see it in his life, but is beautiful knowing he is respected and well known today.
@@xxXXXxxx852 If god exists, if heaven exists, why live in this shitty world at all?
They don't. Man made it all up in the face of this cold bleak reality.
@@abloogywoogywoo alright there Nietzsche. You seem very sure of yourself in your assumptions, care to back them up?
@@Blanderr Define "god" first asshole.
"Protector of children"
This, combined with his childhood, is quite depressing. He became his own protector in his mind.
This whole story sounds like a man who just had a horrible upbringing and, for a time, some people who treated him like garbadge-looking at you Depal. I'm glad in his last years his neighbors were kind to him, at least.
It sounds like to me that he wanted to give someone the security he never had.
It's strange, but I think that a healthy coping mechanism. We all have to parent our inner child to come to terms with our pasts.
"Looking at you depal" that shit cracked me tfu
@@ElanaVital83 Wouldn''t say it's healthy. The man basically spent his whole life in his head trying to rewrite the past and return his stolen childhood, but in the process he excluded himself from reality and never overcame his trauma
@@MrSomebodyStrange He definitely needed a therapist's help. But he was on the right track
“Too late now...”
I’m not going to lie, that broke my heart a little.
I like your profile pic, seems like I've seen it somewhere before...
Really? I thought it was incredibly badass!
@@thomassimmons9730 It felt more somber to me than sad. It's a line that inspires feelings of regret but in the form of solidified acceptance. He realizes that his life is coming to an end and that if there ever was a time for that glory, it's long past; at the same time he doesn't care either. He got what he needed out of his art whatever that may have been and the wishy washyness of people who barely knew him can be damned for all he cares. He has finally found relative peace and that's all that really matters.
Anyways that's my interpretation at least
Alan YaKnow bravo. You could be a decent art critic. Formed a whole paragraph from only three words.
@@alistair4909 dude, that's kinda beautiful.
It makes me sick that so many artists live and die in poverty, yet after their deaths their work is sold at auctions for hundreds of thousands of dollars
Starving artist
@k immaded I am not talking about someone's personal reason for making art. I am talking about the manner in which art is regarded by other people, by society at large. Vincent van Gogh was endlessly teased by the people living in the town where he died; they a thought he was a total weirdo, lugging his huge wooden easel and supplies around with him, painting fields and flowers, and they treated him as such. Yet a little more than a century after he died, one of his paintings sells for millions of dollars.
MILLIONS.
OKAY.
THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE REALLY SHOT HIMSELF, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WAY HE COULD HAVE AFFORDED A GUN.
@@octaviapinfold apparently you are not familiar with a particular genre of Japanese comic books...
I think part of being an artist is suffering in some way. If you’re successful your skill stagnates. You lose sight of what fueled your art in the first place. It just becomes a product
@@octaviapinfold "Banned by the UN" Lmfao, it's a moral vote, don't expect anyone to enforce it. The UN is useless.
It's so sad. It looks like he wanted to protect all children, based on his horrific childhood. The story he wrote definitely shifts moods as he would go through tribulation.
The traumatized mind spends 90% of its energy trying to make sure they don't cause that trauma to occur again in anyone else. That's why those individuals often become doctors. The Injured Healer is a well known literary figure. The pain, becomes the source of the healing. Which is why its often avoided because you have to painfully re-experience those traumas if you want them to heal, that's why psychologists offices will have tissues on hand for when emotions start rising to the surface. Its a painful process, its like being shot, the wound sealed over, and then YOU are now having to cut open the sealed wound with a knife, removing the bullet, and sewing yourself up. That's why emotional development is so crucial to not SCREW UP AT CHILDHOOD.
At the same time... He wanted to protect the children, from the extremely macabre artwork of them being strangled, tortured, and slaughtered. Maybe his art is in fact his emotional struggles with his inner demons. Like they said about his childhood- he was aggressive, violent, chased a girl with a knife. Maybe he's trying to protect the girls in his own imagination from the fate that he himself is going to decide for them, protecting them from his own uncontrollable urges and demons. In the end, it is futile, and they are plastered on a tapestry of blood and guts and bones. Just a passing thought I had.
"Too late now" Fuck. That's depressing.
That will be my famous last words, too.
It hit me so much harder than I thought it would.
Hitting me real hard rn, like I should try even harder in my artistic pursuits so I can get them to a point of feeling comfortable showing others before this happens to me ._.
True - but think about what they'd do to him if it had been discovered in his lifetime with all the pedophilia accusations.
Exactly. It probably wouldn't have gone well for him. Would've been just one more bad event in a life he'd finally made somewhat stable.
“His limited disposable income. Witch was already strained due to his trips to the amusement park. “
Sounds like a fun dude
Which*
She's a witch!?!!
@@yokedmonster She's a *which
@cromwell2007 churches! churches!
If you overlook his penchant for whipping out his dong and stroking his way to oblivion
I personally don't believe his fascination with young kids stemmed from pedophilia. I think it's the simple fact that naked young kids have always classically been a symbol of purity, innocence, happiness, etc. And this is something he never had in his childhood. Seeing him desperately trying to capture it is heartbreaking.
Yeah. It seems more like a coping mechanism than anything depraved. Poor guy was scarred by his horrible childhood and all he had left of it as an adult were bad memories. So he expressed himself through his art (both written and drawn). People who instantly think of him as a pedophile or murderer now aren't much different from the same type of people who'd toss a kid into an insane asylum just for masturbating back in the day.
Do more research. Before being committed for exposing himself and masturbating in public (this is totally reasonable that he was locked up for this. He wasn’t locked up for masturbating in private), he had a history of psychotic and dangerous behavior including slashing a nun with a knife, setting fires, and attacking one of his peers.
the man was a fuckin paedo would you want your kids around him ....stop trying to normalize it
@@user-od4zo1ow6d I mean..this wouldn't make him a pedophile though. I can't say if he was or wasn't but it definitely seems like he was not mentally stable. I don't see how him masturbating in public or setting a house on fire would connect to a sexual attraction to children though.
@@albiondave7312 citation needed
"The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion"
Ah, my favorite Isekai.
*Darger dies*
"Hey... you're finally awake, general. There is a settlement of christian girls that needs your help. I'll mark it on your map."
yea it sounds like a light novel title
yeah and it's about LOLI DICKGIRLS
darger was a mangaka pioneer on the order of Tezuka
STOOOOOOOOOOP
@@FirstLast-uz6eq everything was going well until the dickgirls were mentioned
Henry Darger's one of my favorite artists, probably because there's just something about him that endears me to him. He was a child who was lonely and horrifically physically, emotionally, and most likely sexually abused. He turned out as well as you'd expect. His landlords were really stand-up people, though. They refused to evict him, gave him money off his rent, and even threw a birthday party for him before he died. There's just something about Henry Darger that I have to defend.
That something is humanity.
The fact that his landlords cared for him, oh my God
It actually makes me tear up thinking that they cared enough to not only take money off his rent, but also _throw him a birthday party._ That just about restores my faith in humanity
Aside from his personal struggles, he did not actually turn out that bad at all. In the end he just lived a quiet life and made art.
Reaching to the light. Even after all he endured. I never knew about him. Thank you so much for sharing. Gives me hope.
😳Average Twitter User😳
his way of wanting to protect children and seeing childhood as purity seems to be he had been sexually abused. his obssession and collections of things he “needed” really give off vibes of autism/OCD, along with his intelligence at such a young age
he genuinely seemed like a good man who only wanted to protect children and create pieces of art and it breaks my heart he passed away alone and with no one
turtl3lunch I agree with you but just wanna point out that ocd and autism is in no way the same thing or in a lot of ways even similar
@@skerigyttorp the OCD point stems from his ritual to enter the bathroom and hoarding which is an OCD disorder
Aya Jade yes I know but just wanted to point out that ocd and austism is not the same thing.
He made strange sounds with his mouth in the middle of class, was prone to occasional violence, his fixation on certain things - I would say autism is not a far off guess.
I should also qualify - not all autistic people are violent, but often their frustrations can manifest in physical violence. The frustrations may be borne from external noise/stressors, interruptions to train of thought or routine etc.
A side note, Fredrik, that didn't make it into the video: Henry Darger's grave can be found in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Iowa.
The headstone reads: "Henry Darger. Artist and Protector of Children."
Sounds as if he had horrific trauma through his childhood
Now I feel like I am doing nothing with my life.
he's in Des Plaines, Illinois, not Iowa
Damn
That's badass.
Sounds like a man with autism in a time where those behaviours were severely misunderstood and he was punished and traumatized for it ): His art is hauntingly beautiful. He really created his pieces for himself, he had a whole world in his head that he wanted to put to paper. He sounds like a lovely man and I’m glad that through his later years he was so well taken care of
This sounds nothing like autism
@@hasanalharaz7454 I have autism myself and was using my experience as an autistic person as a reference - autism is a spectrum, it is not just the stereotypes
I was just thinking the same thing! Whether he was somewhere on the spectrum or had a little of something else like Asperger syndrome, it clearly allowed him to completely dive in to something he had the strongest passion for. This is so inspiring!
@@hasanalharaz7454 sounds like 3 autists against 1 rando now
Bout to say, saw a lot of myself in the story of his childhood. "Advanced intellect for my age", love of animals, odd disruptive noises during class, socially isolation, occasionally violent bouts of anger, s**ual preoccupation at a way-too-young age, golly gee it's like I'm right back in grade school. I was lucky I grew up in a time and family where I got help instead of getting sent to a labor camp
This is so sad. He got his childhood ripped away, but he was like a child who never grew up.
Severus Snape he was the original Micheal Jackson
This is so sad. Can we get 50 likes?
Makes you really kind of like this guy, kind of.
Sounds like Michael Jackson.
Everyone making the Michael Jackson parallel and I'm over here like, "Just like Pierrot Le Fou from Cowboy Bebop." Man how I cried the first time I saw that episode...
On the fact that the girls had penises (which sounds like an interesting name of an essay), I think it is very reasonable to assume he simply didn't know what the female anatomy looked like. Given the lack of sex education of the period (especially in an asylum turn work camp), the absence of his mother, the separation from his father during much of his upbringing (crucially his formative puberty years) and his clear social maladjustment from late teens to adulthood, there simply doesn't seem like an instance where he would have been educated about the female anatomy.
Unless there is any instance in his work where a vagina is drawn correctly or any sexual experience is mentioned in his autobiography, I think this is the most logical conclusion, more so than assuming the otherwise asexual man was homosexual or transgender.
Right on
Or maybe "she" is transgenderly :P
+Malik Josenius what?
It's just that, the "transgender community" demans that they have to be called the opposite over what they were born as(the gender originality) :D.
Or simply celibate. He could have never pursued romantic exploits simply because he didn't think women would be interested him. Plus, he was a recluse.
A few notes: the pronunciation of "Darger" is sometimes contested, but I used the pronunciation that I heard while listening to scholars speak about him. Also, I originally uploaded this with a very minor error; I pronounced "Forbes" as "Four-Bees." That's why you may have gotten this twice in your sub box.
This was an emotionally grueling episode to make. Henry Darger's art is stunning to me, but knowing where it came from gives it a layer that used to be invisible to me. Special thanks to Elise McCall, who introduced him to me.
You do an awesome job in your channel and this is easily my favourite video of yours so far. it's an emotional rollercoaster that leaves you with a black hole in the stomach. Congratulations on being such a charismatic and effective chronicler.
I liked this episode very much, but i found it strange that you did not mention his obvious autism. I say this as an autistic person who sits by himself fidgeting with my creative projects all day. Nothing like Darger's though, his art was obviously fueled by the extensive trauma of his childhood.
I first learned about Darger due to the lyrics "Henry must have been lonely" in a from autumn to ashes song.
@@rangda_prime As obvious as it seems, it was never diagnosed, so I assume that's why it was never mentioned in the video. These videos always stick to proven facts. I would definitely agree that there's plenty of evidence to suggest he had some degree of autism though.
Four-bees,we have the FINANCIAL INFORMATION
"then one day, quite suddenly, darger's hatred for god ceased"
That was beautifully spoken, bravo.
Read your comment right when it was said
And then it’s immediately ruined when Frederick says the only reason his hatred stops was because he read a comic about people suffering in hell. His hatred stopped due to fear not because he actually went through some personal growth. Religion wins again.
@@jordanwhite8718 Fear is a very real and universal motivator for human behavior. Why do you think that lessens their outcome? If their hatred vanished, the manner in which it vanished doesn't invalidate the difficulty of abolishing life long hatred for emotional abuse. If the guys every day life was a living hell, the religious stories of hell itself could very well have given him the insight into the conditions that create hell itself. Not every person takes a literalist interpretation of stories, ESPECIALLY not a writers mind. A writer would see stories far different than you, that's why this materialist and literalist interpretation of religion is not the only one that exists. Harry Potter is a beautiful story with or without the literal belief in magical wizards.
For someone to give up anger, thats an accomplishment that shouldn't be trivialized because it didn't happen under the condition you prefer it to happen. You know whats one of the oldest forms of human motivation? Fear. It runs our operating system, its the operating system that our entire concept of logic and reason is founded on. If the choice is between emotion and logic, the human will always default to emotion first.
@@CircmcisionIsChi1dAbus3 But you’re assuming that he got rid of his hatred. You’re assuming he went through personal growth and that he came to except what happened to him. What’s more likely is that just like all the other times he rebelled he had to choke down his true feelings. One thing that Henry’s life seems to have taught him is that if you act in a way that others disapprove of you will be crushed. This comic was reminding him of that painful lesson. And because he could never be himself, he ended up dying old and alone. If fear is the only thing you live, for then you should probably stop living. It’s better to die than live the rest of your life in fear.
@@jordanwhite8718 an artist going through personal growth and giving up misplaced hatred for religious figures? Yah...how unusual. Artists don't have emotional depth and emotional intelligence to draw from at all, especially with being highly introspective. You can refuse to see the silver lining all you want. Someone giving up their hatred for a human ideal is a step in the right direction either way. Imagine a resentful hatred for children, what kind of life do you imagine such a person would have? Well you can easily imagine because it takes the form of quite a few villain archetypes like Cruella Deville and Trunchbolt from Matilda. Hatred for god is not a true feeling, its misguided and represents some hatred for something else, and given his frequent abandonment by his loved ones and his involvement in catholic school, there's a very obvious explanation for his misplaced hatred.
"One thing that Henry’s life seems to have taught him is that if you act in a way that others disapprove of you will be crushed." yah and the continuation of that lesson is "the refusal to live your own life results in the slow agonizing torture of what life you have left to throw away."
"This comic was reminding him of that painful lesson." certainly an expression of trauma, its not like anyone else was going to share it with him, he had no one, by giving up his hatred for god he would have obtained the one last opportunity to talk to someone who cares for him as he is, not as he thinks others want him to be. That hatred for god might as well have been self hatred. He likely felt that he deserved the life he had, that he was being punished, but when punishments never end, that feeling of self loathing turns to bitter resentment because it starts to feel unfair, like someone who is getting bullied eventually getting angry and punching back, but the source of his problems was never god, he just likely resented god for not saving him. children feel the same way about parents all the time.
"he ended up dying old and alone." that's certainly better than dying young with no accomplishments. He is a famous writer. If he suffered in silence, at the very least he created something of value from it so we don't have to do the same thing to extract the same information. do you know how many people live his exact life without creating anything valuable? people jump out of buildings with nothing but painful memories, if that pain generates some sort of creative expression, its far better than nothing. Given the situation, he did quite well. People in his position go fully insane they don't keep their humanity all the time. He LOVED his work, and he hated it as well, you see that in the contrasting innocence and violence. Similar to a traumatized child who will often draw the same picture of the traumatic event. A child who survives a fire that kills their family will often draw flames and burning houses over and over. Like in The Ring, the child draws those black rings over and over again representing the trauma of the child that falls down the well because that child echoes her suffering through the troubles of the modern child going through troubles of their own.
i thought this was a Down The Rabbit Hole episode on Henry Danger.
Same lmao
Yes XD.
Dan Schneider is creepy enough that if enough things come to light, he could get his own episode in a few years.
Lol same
I HAD VISIONS I WAS IN THEM
"Too late now" gave me goosebumps, absolutely tragic.
I'm so glad his neighbours and landlord were their for him like silent watchers even till the end. Though it's sad he only found out when he was dying, I hope even for millisecond, even if it was subconsciously, that he felt even the tiniest bit of warmth when he found out his neighbour liked it a lot
this reminds me of this german guy who lived his whole life alone building origami stuff.
after his death they found amazing art all over the house almost like a museum.
man i forgot the name
Erwin Hapke
Something about this case has hit me harder than the others. A lot of what you touch is either fictional or people being self-centered. Chris-chan was the closest to something that actually made me feel something, but that is such a massive case with so many people involved that it feels hard to understand it individually. This, however... Damn, it is hard to explain, maybe as a fellow artist, it has resonated in odd ways with me. I don't even know why, if it is the fact he kept on living normally, the amount of uncertainty in the story or that something of this size was almost thrown out in the trash like old paper. All this has been haunting my mind for this whole afternoon now... Anyway, great video, as always!
How has no one scanned, bound, and printed his magnum opus?
It's so weird and surreal.... surely there'd be a market for that.... novel?
At 20:20 the video shows a book of "selected writings". If it really was thousands of pages long, as Fredrik said, it would probably be pretty hard to get the entire novel published.
break it up into fuckloads of sequels
profit
just gotta pay for psych treatment for whoever ends up editing that shit
It's perplexing to me, too. I think that there's a lot of concern due to the fragility of his works. Just getting in to see the archives could involve a wait of years, from what I could find.
I wonder if there's hesitation to publish it because of child nudity.
steve5123456789 the nudity of the children isn't very explicit in the way they are drawn I bet the reason it hasn't been published Is because of how fragile the paper is.
This man is not only a grim reminder of how one’s own mind can become a prison, but also how creativity and pure inspired passion can open the locks.
the mind can become a prison only so long as their environment feels like a prison. He used his own mind as a playground as well, don't forget that. If all you have is your mind, it can become a prison, but for the creative mind, that same prison can become anything you imagine. That's the artists curse.
the time this happened in and the whole backstory makes it stand out. i dont think its fair to compare his art quality or life to chris. the guy actually went to work even though he was ill, abused as a child and didnt have therapy or meds for it. chris cant even churn out a constant flow of shitty sonichu pages even though he has all the time in the world and a sheltered life.
He had a really hard life and I wish that he found some moment of peace in his last days. It seems like people liked him despite limited interaction which does say something...he must have had a hard time connecting with others. It really makes you wonder, how many people lead lives like Henry Darger and were forgotten in favor?
Not to meantion his art is actually good and interesting.
Who the fuck compares this guy to Chris? Darger was actually competent despite limited resources. Chris can't write for shit and his art is that of a first grader despite having the entire internet as a resource.
"tooeliteforyou" to answer you question, dude has a pony with sunglasses for a profile pic, ik because it's right below yours on my screen XD
Armchair psychologist here:
He was probably obsessed with children because that was the best time in his life. He himself described his childhood as heaven, the art seems to be a nostalgic call to the past rather than a corrupt fetish or sick fascination. They are naked because thats the purest form of a human. Completely untainted by societal customs, just raw human. Why mostly girls? Probably because women are beautiful. Humans have sculpted, painted or drawn figures of women since we could sculpt, paint or draw.
Put all three of these things together and you get naked little girls fighting a war....? Hmmmm...
Maaaaaaybe just a dash of schizophrenia.
Also my theroy is that those are probably just poorly drawn vaginas/did not know how to properly draw a vagina, hence why he didnt try originally. There also wasnt the internet or porno magazines. Its very plausible he died a virgin unless there was a woman in his life Knudsen didn't mention. Its entirely possible he did not know what one looked like so that was either his attempt or just said fuck it they all get dicks. Interesting artistic choice... though...
And he had a sister he never knew about.
that sounds like a hentai plot
@@lubu4u312 "fuck it they all get dicks"
Maybe it's my lack of sleep but this made me laugh. A lot. :D
Sounds about right, he also sounds like he might have been autistic
It’s very heartwarming that Henry had at least one best friend (or perhaps a lover if you believe some people’s interpretation, I’m 50/50 on it) in his life for so long, it goes to show that anyone, even someone as socially awkward and withdrawn as Henry could find someone whom he cared about and who cared for him back.
>drawings to go with the book
>earthling in an alternate world
>girls with penises
>abhorrently long title
So this is how the first light novel was made...
Wonder if "Problem Children are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?" is a sequel.
My god your write
I feel like "light" is a under estimate
This gave me the chills, a lot of your videos do. There's something so raw and tragic about this man's life. The "Too late now..." just broke me. While I think that he does deserve to be known as a truly selfless artist, I don't think that was a good way of living. People clearly had an interest on his work, he could've lived the recognizition of his skill and yet he didn't. He died as quietly as he lived. And maybe that's the way he wanted it to be. We'll never know.
Doesn't everyone want to leave there mark on the world? Isn't that the millennial goal
Seems he wanted a family more than anything. This barely touches on how often he kept trying to adopt. He never stood a chance there.
Some people just do art for the sake of creating art. Why does everything have to be a commodity now?
7:33 This longass title is almost like your average japanese light novel with long ass title
Honestly, his drawings look so much like Greek paintings. Like Greek culture of women were most flat-chested and the face looking masculine since the greeks like the appearance of men more than women in sculptures. Overall this video gives me this type of feeling of being inspired, confuse, a bit disgusted since is supposed to be little girls. And yet a little happy I learned about a writer who made fiction about himself. Something today writers do not like.
His art reminds me more of Hieronymus Bosch
I remember hearing about Vivien Girls when I was on a sort of rabbit hole of my own, looking at the rarest and most mysterious books ever made. I forgot this legendary and fantastical man existed until now. Thank you.
"Too late now"
I almost cried, felt so heavy.
I remember seeing a piece of his art at an outsider art exhibition a few years back. I was really touched by it then but had a hard time remembering his name afterwards. When I saw the title of this video I thought wait.. wasn't that that artist? So thank you for this video. I'm happy to have found him again and to hear more of his story. I feel genuinely sad for how cruel the world was to him... It sounds to me like he had something childlike or naive about him, even as an adult, for example with how upset he got over losing a certain picture. I'm sad when I think about how lonely he might have felt. I hope he's resting in peace.
this guy was a fucking enigma, great work as always
A more tragic more talented version of Chris Chan.
Thorgrax lmao
EnriqueLovinLife
At least his art can be considered as good art, not a drawing from a 7 year old.
Crandigo one day Chris' art will be considered legendary for sure, remember arts value nearly triples after the artist dies.
alexandra galici I wouldn't call Chris dangerous. At least not anymore now he is so pathetic I don't think he could even use a weapon
mineerthegamer So it'll go for three cents. Nice.
I read this as “Henry Danger”, I’m going to bed
I've been reading it as that for a couple of minutes till I found your comment
I watched the video and I still read the title as that when it pops up.
Haha same. I was so confused
man they really shifted the tone this episode
Is that code lyoko pfp?? My fucking man
dude wtf the man 7:30 is emperor Nicholas 2 of Russia but with blonde hair and beard
Indeed !
Probably he was one of his reference images.
lol I literally just said this 😂 I had to pause it it looks so much like him
Army Generals of the day were required to have a mustache, although I can definitely see the likeness.
*Czar Nicholas II
Crazy to think Henry Darger wrote the worlds first Light Novel
There's nothing light about a 15 thousand page epic. But the title is certainly on brand for Light Novel titles.
@@ahmaddanielazmi1339 Henry Darger: The Isekai
9:12 he also made the first futas it seems
he'd had the time of his life as a modern internet artist/writer
man wrote double sided stories with illustrations + an alternate ending
he ain't making puny light novel
he's making visual novel with routes
The respect I have for this man is as vast as it is troubling. As someone who is, himself, trying to write a work of staggering size, I have to admire him for his dedication, especially in the face of his probable madness. Was this man a misunderstood genius? Maybe, Maybe not. But he was creative, and he was determined and damn it, if that's not the most important thing of all.
Not to be too much of a dramatic, but everyone is a misunderstood genius in someway. Even the most incomprehensible madness ever put to paper, when looked the through the eyes of it's author, is a work of art with aspects of greatness. That potential is always there but very few are able to genuinely appreciate it.
I think the panic he felt when he lost the newspaper clipping of the child that died spoke a lot about him. In a sense, through his art he could give her a chance to live a happy life, as well as keeping her memory alive. I can't imagine the heartbreak and pain he must have felt losing that newspaper clipping and being unable to find it in the archives.
@@flippisni so true. i wish people could try to understand his life through a different perspective of understanding and compassion, to not paint him such a negative and contrary way that so many of the senseless comments try to argue
@@flippisni That makes a lot of sense as to why he was so distraught over it
The comic Darger saw that returned him to the church sounds like a Chick Tract. Chick Tracts would be a great subject for a future Down the Rabbit Hole episode.
HOLY SHIT YES
For sure
I'm constantly reminded of my father's penchant for coming into the living room when I'm watching something at the worst, most horribly out of context or awkward time. My father came in while I was watching a documentary about Henry Darger, and of course he came in while they were speculating why the little girls were always drawn with the incorrect parts. I swear they talked about this for a solid minute or two.
But I'd like to add that I highly doubt Darger was a p*dophile and that these kinds of accusations are close minded in my opinion. As it's said in the video, I believe he looked to children as being as close to God as possible, clean and pure, and that the most evil force present in this world is the one who violates and dirties it; that he was less fixated on children themselves, and moreso on their angelic purity and the childhood that not just he, but the little girl in the newspaper clipping too, were robbed of.
Amazing video, man. Worth the wait, and I bet the researching was grueling. Keep it up, please!
Patrick Morgan it was literally just now posted
Thickpee it was re-uploaded.
Its a re-upload from 15-30 minutes ago
Thuckpee lol
scampublic yh but it wasn't up long enough to be watched
I really respect that Fredrick Knudsen did such a good job on this well-researched, somber look at Henry Darger’s life, compared to how much I despise how most news articles that make baseless, poorly researched accusations that he was a child murderer or pedophile, without backing it up with any solid evidence, like they just cherry pick and exaggerate the negative aspects of his life and personality, without actually analysing what could’ve lead to that. But hats off to you sir, I love that you always back up your research with solid evidence, you keep a neutral, documentary-like tone without any personal bias or manipulation behind it, and you talk about the events in your videos with humanity and empathy that it deserves, rather that just to get attention or views.
While I don’t think he was a saint and I obviously never knew him personally, he certainly sounded like an eccentric, passionate, friendly guy who was dealt a bad hand in life, and used his art as a way of coping with the trauma of what he went through, expressing his need to protect children from those same things, since his paintings depicted the girls fighting their enemies, with the winner presumably depending on his emotional state at the time, and yet, despite it all he managed to lead a content, quiet, if not without it’s flaws, life, creating beautiful art and stories, he still had people that loved being with him, like his best friend William, who showed him compassion, genuinely treated him like a human being, to happily talk with, go to amusement parks, and enjoyed each other’s company, his landlords were so kind to help pay off his rent, let him stay in his house rather than just simply evict him, even throwing him a birthday party, and years later down the line, his artwork has gone on to inspire millions of people, including myself, and I hope he’s happily reunited with William, once again having pleasant little conversations about anything that comes to mind, and both are at peace in heaven.
Would you say that Chris-Chan's work may be considered outsider art?
i would say so. I mean it does share similaritys
i would say so. I mean it does share similaritys
it was so similar you had to say it twice
I'm not exactly an art critic, but I think that he wouldn't. One of the important parts of outsider art is that it somehow shows a personal touch, a style that is uniquely theirs. Chris simply apes off of Sonic and anime.
I kinda wonder if Henry was autistic. His seemingly awful social skills, the repetition in his work (copying pictures over and over again) and how blurry his sense of fiction and reality became. He sounds a lot like a certain Sonic fan...
I really appreciate these videos. They manage to be so unsettling and interesting while relying only on facts without any gimmicks. I can tell that a lot of work went into the research as well. All around, I would say that this is one of my favorite series on RUclips.
His use of color is incredible, at 8:00, looks like its exploding off the page. The lighting is amazing too. A lot is said about what a weird and isolated life he led, speculations on his mental health, but we can't miss what a fine and serious visual artist he was.
So he was The OG Deviantartist
I did not expect this level of crazy when I started watching...
I love the music in these videos. It makes me feel like a noir detective waiting by an alley who's just spotted a lead and is tailing them.
I'm surprised how many references I've found about him talking to himself and having little differentiation between his novel and reality, yet non have mentioned schizophrenia or schizoid personality disorder at all.
Fascinating! My heart reaches out to the pure artists of the world, who create just for the sake of it. Thank you.
John Manley is obviously redrawn from tzar Nicholas II.
Those last words the weight and mix of emotions all coming together and then flat realization “too late now” then passes on quietly what a character
Henry makes me question life... "Too late now." What a character.
"Too late now" I almost teared up.
Interesting that he used a photo of Tsar Nicolas II for his childhood bully-so cool that you can sometimes see where his drawings originated from
The male genitalia on his drawings of girls, I believe, was inspired by old paintings and artwork of cherubs.
his art is actually really good. it's a bit samey, but he draws the same thing really well so that's alright.
Fuck... "too late now" hit me like a train. He's devoted so much of his life to this one thing, only to realize too late that the public would apreciate it rather than hating on him like everyone else has in his life (except for his one friend ofcourse).
Henry darger was such an amazing, awe inspiring man and in spite of his madness, I'm glad that he was someone who lived to exist. His art work was so innocent and wholesome that in a way, his whole life was both embodied and revolved around recapturing that innocence that was ripped from him. The innocense and self immersion in his self interpretation of a world which he used as an outlet to express his frustration. If, I were to ever become old, I'd look to henry as a reference, for how I'd want to express myself through the medium.
11:43 why is this not the cover of a slayer album lmao - that's BRUUUUUUUUUTAL all the stomachs intestines and kidneys hanging out this guy had no limits
Thank you so much for introducing this artist, Fredrik. I have a deep fascination for the surreal, horrific side of art in the 20th century and I try to collect as much Lovecraft, Čiurlionis, Obukhov, Beksínski and now Darger as I can. Fantastic video!
If you can try make it to Switzerland some day going from gallery to gallery all over the country of only Outsider artists/artists in exile. Every one has a story. There was a princess who was forced to move somewhere safer due to war losing her sweetheart whom she was madly in love, spent the rest of her life painting them in love and her love for him endlessly..
Not to mention all the other gallery's like H.R Giger and Giger bar in Gruyere.. Amazing.
There are SO VERY many stories not unlike his, Darger's is but one that we happen to know a little better...
Have you read any Philip K Dick? he suffered from schizophrenia, and while he was far more lucid then most of the subjects of this show his works are somewhat reminiscent of the case studies described.
@@zarrg5611 Woah, he was schizophrenic? I've always enjoyed his short stories, and I had no idea!
"Too late now..."
Dude that hit me hard wtf.
His drawings remind me of the Voynich Manuscript. You should do a video on it!
What is it?
@@melvinmerkelhopper5752 A book that's written in gibberish and has illustrations. It was found at the beggining of the 20th century, and it's allegedly from the middle ages. No one has ever been able to "crack" the language of the book, if there's anything to crack at all.
This is just too sad... this poor boy had no one to turn to and clearly struggled with mental illness, yet deep down inside him he was capable of creating beautiful worlds where children didn't have to suffer. I would love to see more art related videos like this.
Except that in his inner worlds children *did* suffer: by torture, hot coals, by being forced to eat dead childrens' hearts etc. His inner world was already irreparably damaged. Even in his fantasy childhood didn't have a sanctuary.
To quote the Don McLean song about Vincent van Gogh: "This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you".
The stories this dude wrote kind of sounds like Legend of the Galactic Heroes, as written by Chris-Chan.
Legend of the Galactic Vesuvian Girls in Chicago as the second neo-zeon war takes place as documented by the historian Yang Wen-li with backing music composed by the band American Football.
It's INCREDIBLY hard Sci-Fi, so unless the world and characters really click with you, you probably won't dig it. I've finished literally all of every Gundam and Macross series and I still find it kind of a chore.
Lmao I read the title as Henry Danger
Same
So did I.
Same
Standing on pedestals out in the sun
The melting continues, it's barely begun
Still nobody knows what will happen the day
The ice 'round the vivian girls melts away
I think you should make a Down the Rabbit Hole episode on Kaspar Hauser. Definitely a strange and intriguing figure with a history shrouded in mystery. He would make a great subject matter for an episode of down the rabbit hole, IMO
"Too late now."
Words that hurt to hear.
Henry Darger has many characteristics of high-functioning autistic people, who are often mislabeled as being "feeble-minded" as they would have said in his day or "retarded" as many people continue to label us even though that particular label is no longer used by actual medical professionals. He was not allowed much training or education, subjected to sexual abuse, and made to work a job that was well below what his true capabilities might have been, yet he trained himself to create an astounding body of work (and no, the fact that much of it features nude little girls with male genitals is not a sign that he was attracted to children...they seem to be an attempt to depict perfect and pure human beings that are neither male nor female) and his devotion to Christ and his desire to protect the innocent from harm in a world in which there really WERE powerful secular nations that did horrific things to children in the name of stamping out religion sets him apart from much of the vapid and materialistic "art" produced in the past century. Bless you, Henry Darger!
> Pulls a knife on a girl
> Gets sent mental institution for masterbation
Truly, we live in a society.
I kind of wish there were a way to actually see into getting his works published. The world he created seems immense and vast and I for one am quite curious to read.
A bitter yet occasionally sweet story of a cute an with a seemingly lovable mindset and imagination.
Thank you for sharing, Fredrik.
I admire and respect Henry Darger so much. What a beautiful person.
Fredrik, your essays are so well written, and I appreciate the attention to detail you give to have correct grammar and stay respectful and objective. Just found you a few days ago, and now have seen many of your videos. Everything is so top notch! Your narration, the source material, the editing and images. I'm sure you hear this all the time... but, great work!! FANTASTIC AWESOME work. I am lucky to have found your channel and learned so much.
Anyone noticed how Manley looks like Tzar Nicholas II, King George V of England, and Kaiser Wilhelm II? (the three were cousins if you didn't know)
Henry Darger is a hero of mine, he's inspired me to write and draw my own stories.
3:11 "It was no secret that the asylum used children as a labour force" - that's where he got the inspiration to write about child slavery. They must have really piled the work on top of him, for it to have had such a dramatic impact on his psyche. Such a precocious, gifted child - made to spend his formative years scrubbing and cleaning, instead of learning! How different his life would have turned out, if he had been educated in order to reach his true potential, instead of just being used as a skivvy! My heart goes out to him for what he must have suffered in his childhood.
19:42 I hate that people jump to the conclusion that Henry was a paedophile or a murderer, just because he wrote about children and drew their images. He had a very strong urge to PROTECT children from harm, for them never to experience the kind of childhood he suffered through. Just because an image shows nudity, that doesn't necessarily make it pornographic. The Germans have a "free body culture" where adults and children in their family will get changed in front of each other, and swim in the water naked and no-one has any problem with it. Besides, the fact that he drew all the girls with penises shows that Henry was completely unaware of what girls' genitalia consisted of. He drew them in all innocence, wanting to show them as free-spirited, never realising his mistake.
It amazes me that, to this day, no publishing company ever tried to publish the story itself in separate volumes. What we know about the plot and such is from people that read the original manuscripts and explaibed that in interviews and such. But never actually pubñished.
Great Men are born posthumously...
Oh I love this video sm. Honestly I would loooove to see more of such stories about artists, I never heard about this one, and there are so many others out there, and your deep dives are soo informative and fun. My passion for art and detailed essays together yeeeees yes
I cried a little.
Great vid! This artist always fascinated me for making his own little world so well.
I know it’s a strange thing to enjoy but the sense of melancholy these videos give me is strangely addicting.
I saw a doc on this years ago and could not remember his name or the doc's name. Glad this video popped up.
This was honestly kind of depressing to watch.
I find his art to be absolutely beautiful. Thank you for writing this video in such a respectful manner, by the way, many would simply label Darger as a crazy man and move on without regard for his life story or his works.
Another great "outsider" is Bruce Bickford, but brought this in to an animated form. It's interesting to see the correlation between Prog-rock and the height of this art form length of time. Unfortunately these mediums have been characterized and often overlooked, it's good to see a thorough evaluation of one of these artists. You provide a better context this genre.
This was my favorite one yet. I really appreciate that someone on RUclips is on here that does something out of passion and not for millions of subscribers or on the flimsy motivation of views. This was a really tragic and remarkable tale of a man who never knew his own beauty that came from so much suffering
I thought the title was “Henry Danger” originally🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ i was like “Damn whats nick done now” lmao
Man I love your vids. I wrote my previous comment suggesting Darger as a topic without knowing this one.
I still might recommend taking an eye on Wölfli (who spent most of his time in institutions - he invented his own imaginary money, but was so rich in his mind that he had interests in the interests and then invented even more levels of currency), or maybe Alexander Lobanov if you are curious ?