May 2, 2012
SLIDESHOW: When great authors pick up the brush
by Kevin Murphy
As seen below, sometimes even great writers need an escape from the restrictions of language. Here are some examples of what happens when authors switch words for images …
“Travellers in a Landscape” by Goethe (1787)
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“Town beside a lake” by Victo Hugo (1850)
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Pen and ink drawing by Marcel Proust (1910)
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Untitled by Herman Hesse (1917)
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“Maria Nys Huxley at Siesta” by Aldous Huxley (1920)
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“Mt. Chocorua” by E.E. Cummings (1938)
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“Times Square, 1944″ by Zelda Fitzgerald (1945)
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“Dr. Sax” by Jack Kerouac (1952)
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“Self-Portrait” by Flannery O’Connor (1953)
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“Chin Chin” from the Insomnia Series by Henry Miller (1965)
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“Trout’s Tomb” by Kurt Vonnegut (2005)
Kevin Murphy is the digital media marketing manager of Melville House.
50 annotated first editions—going to the highest bidder 
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SLIDESHOW: Self portraits by famous authors 
12 Comments
Very cool. I wonder how many artists have given writing a shot. I can’t imagine Pollock being very erudite, but who knows.
How about Duchamp, Dali, Picasso, all of the wrote some pretty good texts.
Love this, thanks for sharing!
I really enjoyed seeing this! Writers can also be highly skillful in other crafts.
beautiful work by wonderful writers.
Creativity gets around - I don’t see it settling down with just one form of expression any time soon. Artists are artists; this kind of creative promiscuity suits them, I think.
Love this!!! In the acting business it’s always said ‘it takes an actor to really sing a song’ well, this is wonderful so perhaps I should say ‘it takes an author to paint a story’ Love it! There are two I would love to own.
Thank you for this. Enjoyed it!
One of the Chapman brothers has written two novels and of course there’s Tracey Emin’s Strangeland. I’ve read neither. Also, though not so much a visual artist but Nick Cave has published two pretty well-received novels.
Richard Prince writes.
Michelangelo wrote a few pieces of poetry.
Sylvia Plath was a pretty good drawer too!