If there is one Chicago artist to have caught my attention, it would be Henry Darger. There is a sense of mystery when it comes to Henry Darger and his work. As someone who went through his entire life without recognition for his stories and art, it’s interesting to see how Darger’s art is interpreted without him being there to do the talking. Darger was born on April 12th, 1982 in Chicago, IL to Henry Sr. and Rosa Darger. Henry was put up for adoption when he was young as his mother died after the birth of his sister and his father was incapable of raising him due to poor health. Due to poor behavior at the Catholic Mission home, Darger was sent to an asylum. Institutions like the one Darger was sent to were known for neglecting and mistreating children. After multiple escape attempts, Darger successfully escaped the institution at the age of 16 . After returning to Chicago, Darger took up work in multiple hospitals as a dishwasher or janitor. He also became very religious during this time, and attended mass multiple times per day. Darger lived in multiple apartments throughout his life, with one even being a room close to the DePaul University Lincoln Park campus. This is where he…show more content… The story focused on seven young princesses who fought in a rebellion against child slavery. The young female protagonists were the heroes of his story. After a rough childhood full of abuse and misfortune, Darger created a story where children were shown to be powerful and capable of fighting against evil adults. To accompany his novel, Henry created hundreds of illustrations and watercolor paintings that illustrate the story of the Vivian girls. Darger’s art is known to range from harmless and pleasant to quite gruesome, all this depending on the scene he was depicting from the story. He was not afraid to portray children being tortured and killed
