Ars Necronomica 2015
In the two years since our last convention, we were made aware of more biographical details on “Perry”, who cut the famous black gum paper portrait of H. P. Lovecraft from life. This work is a valuable depiction of the writer at age 35, which stands apart from the wealth of photographic representation and yields within a gaunt, featureless contour a stately aesthetic true to The Man.
HPL not only had his silhouette done in 1925 by this Coney Island and Harlem artist, but on a second occasion a few months later commissioned a portrait of Sonia Greene, then his wife. Obviously a full regard of the individual and a rapport between the two men was likely. New York historian Eric K. Washington essays all additional facts on Perry available in an online post archived on the excellent Gotham History Blotter.
This artist portfolio regards not just the individuals included but their work—that always should speak for itself. Giving credit where due, we respectfully include in their company Lovecraft Portraitist and American Folk Artist
E. J. PERRY
and dedicate this iconographiam to him. –TjZ