Taking a break from his ambitious goal of sketching every building in New York City’s five boroughs — homes to the world’s most sophisticated vinyl-sided façades — Brooklyn-based illustrator James Gulliver Hancock has captured the essence of famous artists through his topographic portraiture of quirks and curious tidbits. In his illustrations, featured on Hyperallergic and soon to be published by Chronicle Books, we see these Artists, Writers, Thinkers and Dreamers turned inside out, featured next to the jumble of events, belongings, ailments, and idiosyncrasies that, alongside their art, helped solidify their icon status. From da Vinci’s penchant for grave-digging to Frida Kahlo’s affair with Trotsky to Yoko Ono’s purchase of Dali’s mustache hair, Hancock’s illustrations attempt to join the scattered puzzle pieces of identity.
Image credit: James Gulliver Hancock
Vincent Van Gogh
Image credit: James Gulliver Hancock
Leonardo da Vinci
Image credit: James Gulliver Hancock
Frida Kahlo
Image credit: James Gulliver Hancock
Salvador Dali by James Gulliver Hancock
Image credit: James Gulliver Hancock
Andy Warhol