Fairytales

Fairytales are the myths we live by, so pretty potent stuff for artists looking for an allegory to hang their creative hats on. These are hand-me-down tales told at a mother’s knee that grow bushy in the collective imagination like a magic forest or a sky-sweeping bean stalk.

As we grow up, the messages of fairy tales take on darker meanings, which to artists are rich with ulterior motives. Different cultures will weave different stories that come to mingle fact with fiction, and artists do the same thing with this raw material. So for all you modern Cinderellas and Jack the lads, here’s the art that quite often has a story that goes with it.