Plus de 200 dessins et peintures de John Howe, illustrateur des romans de Tolkien puis directeur artistique des deux trilogies cinématographiques Le seigneur des anneaux et Le Hobbit, offrent une exploration picturale et commentée de l'oeuvre de l'écrivain et de l'origine des contes et des légendes. Des textes de spécialistes mettent en lumière ses influences poétiques et mythologiques. ©Electre 2025

Following the trails of tolkien and the medieval imaginary world paintings and drawings of john howe

Following the footsteps of Tolkien to discover the medieval imaginary though the oeuvre of John Howe is the experience proposed by the exhibition presented at Fonds Hélène & Édouard Leclerc in Landerneau as well as in this book accompanying the show.

Conceived by the curators Diane and Jean-Jacques Launier as a pictorial exploration, with commentary, of the oeuvre of Tolkien and the origin of medieval legends that today are so present in comic books, video games and on the small and big screens, this exhibition presents more than two hundred drawings and paintings by John Howe, but also reproductions of authentic objects from the medieval era and oeuvres contemporary to Tolkien, from the Pre-Raphaelite and from the Arts and Crafts movement.

An artist of international repute, John Howe first illustrated Tolkien's novels before taking part in the artistic direction of the two cinematographic trilogies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, alongside the filmmaker Peter Jackson, settling for few years in New-Zealand during the shooting of the films. More recently, he has also taken part in the artistic direction of the series The Lord of the Rings : The Rings of Power.

In the contributions of specialised or passionate authors, the visitor will perceive to what degree the richness of Tolkien's literary oeuvre and the medieval imaginary drew upon ancient poetic and mythologic influences such as the Eddas, the Kalevala, The Song of the Nibelungs, Beowulf and the Arthurian legends.

Tolkien played an active role in the transmission of this heritage by composing with genius a unique and original mythology that has become, throughout the world, the iconic reference to the medieval imaginary, wonderfully showcased here in the pictorial oeuvre of John Howe.