I was curious about the cover art for the Prydain books I mentioned in the previous post. I have loved these pictures ever since I first saw them as a child. The art is evocative and beautiful. I wondered who the artist was, so I looked around online.

The artist’s name is Jean-Leon Huens. I was not able to find a lot of biographical information about him, but did learn that he was a Belgian artist who was born in 1921 and lived until 1982. The artwork that adorns the covers of the Lloyd Alexander books is apparently watercolor pencil. I find the paintings moody and atmospheric, but also realistic and perfectly constructed spatially.

I remember being enthralled by the above painting for The High King when I first discovered the book. I could almost taste the fear Taran is feeling as the Cauldron-born inexorably approach, surrounding him on his rocky perch.

As powerfully emotive as his artwork is, I was a little surprised to find so little about him online. I came across this brief bio on Swann Auction Galleries website:

“Huens (1921-1984) was a Belgian artist and illustrator who was known for his mastery of light and detail. Early in his career, he produced covers for Reader’s Digest and began a partnership with National Geographic in the 1970s. He was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2002.”

And I read the following on the Society of Illustrators facebook page:

“About the artist: Belgian by birth, Jean Leon Huens’s career in Europe included illustrations for children’s books, calendars, and greeting cards. From the 1960s until his death, his works were published extensively in the United States for The Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Corgi, Penguin, and Dell, often in the realm of legend or fantasy. His distinctively detailed, small-scaled illustrations are gems of subtle layerings of pigment and design, loaded with information and elegant beauty. Huens was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2002.”

Here is a painting apparently titled The Walled City of Constantinople that I believe was published in an issue of National Geographic:

I would love to see a book that collects his artwork from various sources…book covers, magazine articles, and anything else that could be found.