Finding the original painting of Gandalf
M. Perry
something that happened to Tolkien on a trip through Switzerland in the
summer of 1911:
"Before setting off on the return journey to England, Tolkien bought
some picture postcards. Among them was a reproduction of a painting by a
German artist, J. Madelener. It is called Der Berggeist, the mountain
spirit, and it shows an old man sitting on a rock under a pine tree. He
has a white beard and wears a wide-brimmed round hat and a long cloak.
He is talking to a white fawn that is nuzzling his upturned hands, and
he has a humorous but compassionate expression; there is a glimpse of
rocky mountains in the distance. Tolkien preserved this postcard
carefully, and long afterwards he wrote on the paper cover in which he
kept it: 'Origin of Gandlalf.'"
I've had absolutely no luck locating a copy of this painting. Tolkien
web sites that mention the facts above don't have copy. Art directories
at the University of Washington's art library don't mention the author
or the painting. A search of German art books turned up nothing. An art
research librarian came up blank.
If someone is better situated to research obscure German (or possibly
Swiss-German) artists, I'd appreciate any help they might offer. Ditto
someone who might be able to ask Humphrey Carpenter if he might know
where a copy might be found. From the text above, he seems to have seen
it. Possibly the card still exists in a Tolkien archive.
If I can get it in the next few weeks, I'd be happy to give $50 to the
first person who could supply me with a good quality color TIFF scan of
this painting. And I'll be happy pass copies of that scan to Tolkien web
sites.
This is a good chance to solve the mystery, "What did Gandalf look like?"
You can email me at: inkling at foxinternet.net. Just replace the "at"
with the @ symbol.
--Mike Perry, Seattle
Mike Williams
is reproduced in The Annotated Hobbit by Anderson.
Mike Williams
http://www.tolkiencollector.com