Happy Birthday, Edward Gorey!

Today marks the 88th birthday of artist, illustrator and author Edward Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000). This largely self-taught artist left behind a delightful, remarkable, and wholly unique body of work upon his death. Most of his works are set in the Victorian and Edwardian era, with a very dark sense of humor and a twist of morbidity. His fascinating and skillful pen-and-ink works inspired generations and spawned the opening credits of the PBS series "Mystery!" as well as the absolutely gorgeous music video for Nine Inch Nails' song "The Perfect Drug" directed by Mark Romanek in 1997 (previously here).

I saw a wonderful exhibit of Gorey's work at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco in 1993. The museum had a limited supply of signed books and museum catalogs by Gorey, which I snapped up!

And here is the man himself, in one of his many beloved fur coats (he stopped wearing fur altogether, rightly calling it "cruelty to animals"), and with a few of his many, many cats.

And for fun, here is the PBS "Mystery!" opening credits...

Happy Birthday, Mr. Gorey!

His home on Cape Cod is now a museum whose profits go toward protecting animals, particularly dogs, cats, bats, and insects.
http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/