Eric Pape: Fantasy Illustrations

Mar 18

In celebration of the first restoration and conservation of 73 pen and ink drawings by Eric Pape on loan from the collection of award winning photographer Bruce Haley.

This exhibition of art by Eric Pape includes many examples of Eric Pape´s book illustrations for "Notre Dame de Paris" by Victor Hugo, "Fairy Tales and Stories" by Hans Christian Andersen, "The Arabian Nights, Tales of Wonderand Magnificence" and "Shakespeare and the Heart of a Child" by Gertrude Slaughter, all unseen publicly since the artists' death in 1938.

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Preface

Celebrated Golden Age book, magazine and newspaper illustrator and educator Frederic Louis Mortiz Pape (1870-1938), known as Eric Pape, began his professional career providing illustrations for popular magazines like The Century, Cosmopolitan, McClure's and Scribner's and provided the art for important first editions including Henry James' "Turn of the Screw", H.G. Wells' "War in the Air" and the four volume "Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte" by William Milligan Sloane. His popularity as a magazine and book illustrator allowed him to found the most popular American art school of it's time in Boston in 1894, personally teaching more than 200 students per season. During this time Pape was a neighbor and close friend of the Hammond family on Cape Ann and created many important artworks for the family.

Hammond Castle Museum has been sponsoring art exhibitions each year showcasing the restoration and conservation of important art created by Eric Pape, including the Hammond Castle mural "Wireless Naval Battle on Gloucester Bay" in 2023, the society oil portrait "Gertrude Cawain" loaned by the Filson Historical Society in Louisville Kentucky in 2024, and a group of illustrations for the Deluxe edition of "The Fair God" from the collection of the General Lew Wallace Museum in Indiana in 2025. In 2026 Hammond Castle Museum is exhibiting a variety of pen and ink illustrations created by Eric Pape for children's fantasy stories in the 1920s, restored and conserved for the first time since their creation more than a hundred years ago. These artworks have been unseen by the public since the artist's death in 1938. Eric Pape was always regarded as one of the finest pen and ink artists of his day, and numerous publishers turned to him to illustrate these classic children's books for fantasy works like "The Arabian Nights", "Fairy Tales and Stories of Hans Christian Anderson", "Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "Shakespeare and the Heart of a Child" and his final book illustration commission before his death, to illustrate the centennial edition of "Notre Dame de Paris" by Victor Hugo, also known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The exhibition features 73 newly restored artworks by Eric Pape on loan to Hammond Castle Museum from the collection of award winning conflict zone photographer Bruce Haley.