Justin Todd (1) (1932–)

Todd's paintings have a dreamy, otherworldly quality that was obviously attractive to the commissioners of cover art for horror, supernatural, science fiction and fantasy books, many examples of which are included in this collection. However, his style's also well-suited to suburban themes, as shown by his detailed examination of cricket players and spectators on a village green, or the rows of identical, middle-class houses with their manicured lawns displayed between the decoratively-patterned curtains that form the backdrop for an afternoon tea, complete with budgerigar.

The large format of the book allows the paintings to really shine, some with their big blocks of bright colours, others with their intricate detail. In the introductory interview (which text, with a short prefatory note, make up the two-and-a-half pages that aren't given over to the paintings and their title pages), Todd acknowledges the influence on his work of, amongst others, Magritte, Bosch and Ernst, though I'm more put in mind of Rousseau and, particularly in the case of his cover for Irish Tales Of Terror, of Richard Dadd's painting, The Fairy-Feller's Master-Stroke


I have quite a few books with his cover art, mainly genre titles, but one of my favourites, which sadly is omitted from this portfolio (reasonably so, as he hasn't painted it at the time this book was published), is his painting for Hermann Hesse's Stories of Five Decades.

According to his website, Todd gave up book cover illustration some years ago, though it's nice to see that he's still working and, occasionally, exhibiting.… (mais)