Grace, elegance, strength, charm, magic, struggle, passion - this is not a series of adjectives, but just a characteristic of Boris Valeggio's paintings. It is worth for a moment to catch your eye on the image, as if a ball of boiling lava rises inside, rushing out. Boris Valeggio is the genius of modern Fantasy Art.
Way to the top
Artist Boris Valeggio was born in 1941 in Peru. His father was a famous lawyer, and Boris himself wanted to become a musician and gave 7 for long years playing the violin. However, something went wrong, for two years he studied at the medical department. In the meantime, he was fond of drawing.
One day, his comrades saw his drawings and advised him to enter the National School of Art. He becomes the best graduate and receives a job offer in Florence. But going to Europe meant changing your dream of living in the States. Therefore, having 80 dollars with him, in 1964 he migrated to the United States.
Without knowledge of the language, housing and money, a native of Peru is forced to be a laborer in one of American companies, spraying his talent on comics and Greeting Cards. Over time, Boris finds his own style in the visual arts, develops a personal system of images. For six months he wanders from city to city - Hartfort, Connecticut, New York. After 2 years he becomes a freelance artist, and for 8 years he takes on any order that comes up, feeling on his own skin all the cruel realities of the publishing world.
Only in 1975 did the first long-awaited success come to him. Publishing house "Marvel Comics" pays attention to his works. First, he is offered a job with postcards, then with comics, and finally with book covers.
1976 - Ballantine Books commissions Boris Valeggio for covers for Tarzan books. He knew how to please the audience, abandoning the grace of the European "man", Valeggio presented the world with unprecedented power, a mountain of muscles, a bold and sexy man. It is at this moment that the talent of Boris Valeggio emerges from the shadows.
Men and women
The artist Boris Valeggio, whose paintings are known throughout the world, has changed the idea of the ideal of a man and a woman in the fantasy world. The male character personifies a noble barbarian. Savages, athletic, sexy and masculine, are present in almost every picture.
Creating fantasy paintings, Boris Valeggio did not lose sight of the fair sex. If in the 60-70s heroines with wide hips were popular, now they have been replaced by athletic, majestic and graceful warrior witches. Athletic physique, magical lightness and a fantasy-played plot seem to say - this is Boris Valeggio. The artist's paintings are considered the best in the Fantasy Art genre.
Trapped in forbidden desires
Erotica. Exactly most of people who have seen his paintings are characterized by what Boris Valeggio creates. The paintings of this artist are like another, otherworldly world. Here, sexual violence, the desire for pleasure and human flesh are in the order of things, which opposes monsters and demons. Merging together, each element of the picture seems to oppose the world of tender and beautiful. As if the challenge is Boris Valeggio. The paintings that come out from under his brush show the truth, reveal hidden human desires that can only exist on the verge of the fictional and the real.
I don't like fantasy, but I like this artist. Not so much with his stylistic works, but with traditional plots that are less known. Therefore, I tried to pick up little-known facts from his life and his lesser-known works.
Boris Valeggio (Valeggio or Vallejo in some sources) is a real Indian. He was born on January 8, 1941 in Lima, Peru to a lawyer's family.
Boris has been mastering the art of playing the violin for seven childhood years. But soon the violin is replaced by medicine, the study of which he devotes two years of his life. It is worth noting that knowledge of anatomy later helped him in his work.
After Boris's friends noticed how well he draws, he devoted himself to painting and studied for 5 years at the National School of Art in Lima. At the age of 16, he receives a grant to study in Florence, the ultimate dream for many aspiring artists. But, to everyone's amazement, Boris refuses, and instead, in 1964, with 80 dollars in his pocket and a portfolio of his work, he emigrates to the United States.
"Vermeer, Rembrandt, Leonardo - all my childhood I studied the works of these masters again and again. But most of all I love the work of two Spanish artists"Murillo and Velasquez."
Thus, the new edition of John Herman's adventure series in the 1970s enjoyed great popularity thanks to the covers created by Valeggio's hand. Many owners of books from the old series bought second copies, illustrated by the artist. Illustrations for a series of books about Tarzan (where Boris abandoned the usual blue-eyed blond European in favor of a brutal and sexy savage) were printed as a separate edition and successfully sold out.
Soon Boris Valeggio gets acquainted with the fantasy style.
“I have always been distinguished by a special love for the perfection of the structure human body, and fantasy allowed me to depict muscular and sensual bodies in all variations in all my work. And since I love human bodies, I always try to draw them as beautiful and perfect as possible.”
One of the most typical characters Valeggio is a noble barbarian, boldly striding towards dangers and defeating the forces of evil and darkness. Critics believe that the artist captures himself in this character.
The second favorite character of Boris is the embodiment of femininity, but at the same time a brave heroine, in whom Doris is most often seen.
"When I meet on the street beautiful woman I like to look at her. Am I trying to imagine how I would feel if I touched her? Or if I make love to her? No, but some of these feelings are reflected in my painting. At this point, I'm just enjoying what I see."
In 1994, Boris enters into a second marriage with the artist - Julia Bell, who is 30 years younger than him. Julia is now the model for his Amazons. And he himself often poses for pictures of his wife.
“The fact is that I myself have been bodybuilding since the age of sixteen. In my opinion, there is nothing surprising in the fact that I am interested in portraying people with beautiful and strong bodies. Naked body is natural. And if there was no sex, then none of us would simply exist.
Valeggio rarely draws from life, so as not to force the models to stand for a long time in his chosen position. Usually, before starting work, Boris takes photos of models in the right angles. He then sketches the photographs and adds shadows and effects using brown acrylic, which creates a plastic effect and allows the illustration to dry faster and move on to new colors. However, Boris also works in the traditional technique, making oil sketches.
Boris paints the backgrounds quite roughly, capturing only a few significant details and motifs. His backgrounds are entirely a product of the imagination, while the characters are filled with realism.
Most of his works are compositionally built according to a single principle: the upper part is practically empty, since the title and author of the book are usually placed there. Therefore, the main "plot" is concentrated in the bottom two-thirds of the image.
"A bookstore always has a lot of books stacked close to each other, and often the decision of whether to buy a book or not is made by the cover. A successful cover attracts buyers like a magnet." Knowing this, Boris uses erotic motifs, playing on our instincts like a violin.
Boris Vallejo (Spanish: Boris Vallejo) - American artist. Born January 8, 1941 in Lima, Peru. In 1964 he emigrated to the United States, where he currently lives. *** Married to artist and collaborator Julia Bell. From a previous marriage to Doris, he has two children: son Dorian and daughter Maya, who are also engaged in fine arts. Vallejo is best known for his fantasy book covers. His paintings are distinguished by the abundance of nudes, both male and female. At the same time, Boris's wife, the artist Julia Bell, often acts as a model, and he himself serves as a model for her paintings. The fact is that I myself have been bodybuilding since the age of sixteen. In my opinion, there is nothing surprising in the fact that I am interested in portraying people with beautiful and strong bodies. Naked body is natural. And if there was no sex, then none of us would simply not exist. The frankness of Boris's work won him both numerous admirers and many critics. For example, Andrzej Sapkowski wrote in his essay “There is no gold in the Gray Mountains”: The publisher aims at the so-called YAROY. And the so-called IRAID wants Boris Vallejo on the cover, he wants half-naked asses and busts that are ready to roll out of an armored bra. YARYY does not look for meaning in fantasy, because the meaning is directly obliged to cry out that no one goes into battle in openwork armor, because it is not only dangerous to fight in such armor, it is impossible even to wade through nettle thickets in such armor. In addition to books and comics, Boris designs music CDs. A series of collections of pop music of the 20th century "Romantic Collection" is completely framed by the works of Vallejo and Luis Royo. Personal life Vallejo is married to artist Julie Bell, whose art style very similar to the Vallejo style. He has two children from a previous marriage to artist and writer Doris Vallejo, and two stepchildren. His son, Dorian Vallejo, also paints fantasy but is now a portrait painter. His daughter, Maya Vallejo, is a professional photographer. His stepsons, Anthony Palumbo and David Palumbo, are both artists and work for galleries. visual arts, as well as illustrators in the science fiction/fantasy genre.
Boris Vallejo was born in Lima, Peru, where his father was a successful lawyer. The boy was going to make a career in music, studying the violin for seven long years. For two years he studied at the preparatory department of the Faculty of Medicine. Noticing Boris's talent as a draftsman, his comrades force him to enter the Department of Applied Graphics National School arts in Peru. Anatomy lessons were not in vain: the best graduate student was offered to study in Florence. Boris refused to go to Europe! The dream of New York brought the owner of 80 dollars to America. In 1964 he did not know in English. At first, fellow countrymen helped to find inexpensive housing. In the advertising department of a large company, he did the dirty work, not shunning comics and Christmas cards. Gradually, Boris developed his own unique style. Playing with different styles, he developed a system of his own images. For six months he worked in Hartford, then in Connecticut, and only then at the company's New York headquarters. There he met future wife Doris. After two years he left the firm and became free graphic artist. For a long eight years, he took on any order, comprehending in practice the wrong side of the world of the press and the cruel laws of the publishing business. The first success came to the artist in 1975. His posters and postcards were noticed by Marvell Comics. At first, he combined work on Christmas cards with a series of drawings for comics. Boris then switches to book covers. In 1976, he received a series of commissions from Ballantine Books. The innovative artist painstakingly worked on illustrations for a series of books about Tarzan. The Latin American abandoned the graceful, fair-haired and blue-eyed Europeans. In return, the Peruvian offered brute strength, muscle, courage and ... sexuality! The work on "Tarzan" was so successful that the covers and illustrations were printed separate edition. They sold out instantly! From now on, beloved male character Valeggio becomes a noble barbarian. Courageous, athletic and sexy savages are present in almost every picture. And where without women? The wide-hipped heroines of the 1960s and 1970s were replaced by athletically graceful and attractive female warriors. The women of Boris Valedzho are the embodiment of invocative beauty, magical grace and athletic physique. Be it a slave or a proud Amazon, an angel or a demon. Wife Doris and fashion model Daniella Enjo are the artist's models. And often served as a male model mirror reflection his own body. Boris Valeggio is the leader of Fantasy Art. In this deeply erotic genre, various demons and aggressive monsters oppose the world of beauty. Valeggio's special bestiary contains many fantastic creatures: lizards with female hands, wolves with male heads, people with animal skins, dragons with butterfly wings, flying centaurs, etc. Most of them are sexual abusers who want to enjoy human flesh. Sexual violence is the norm of behavior in the world of Boris Valeggio. And this is not surprising. In essence, Fantasy Art is a fixation of forbidden desires from our erotic dreams. In a dream, our bodies undergo any transformations. The female body is a special world of magic. The witch's magic is in the limitless possibilities of her chest and legs. The witches of Boris Valedzho are a topic for a separate discussion. It's the addictive eroticism female body makes some take up a brush and dream (like Gogol or Valedzho). And others - to leave the bottomless wells of darkness in order to fulfill a momentary female whim. Since the time of Gogol's "Viy" in art, no one else has managed to whip up an artistic cocktail of images of lovers and demons of black depths so thickly. Inner world witches are darker and more mysterious than her slanting eyes. In the witching midnight stellar distances open in the eyes of a witch. Is it not a stellar theme that explains Boris Valeggio's predilection for witches with burning eyes? Dark sides female soul- this is the deepest secret of Valeggio. How much did Boris communicate with witches, did the painter go to Bulgakov's covens, did he have fun on comets, did he indulge in sadness on the outskirts of the universe? This is known to him alone. The artist's bold brush will speak more eloquently than words about the forbidden pleasures of fabulous bestiality, the indescribable joys of cosmic sex and night flight over a tiny planet. Valeggio fundamentally changed the basic principles of commercial "fantastic" painting. He created a new female sex symbol by tying athletic body with witch eyes. A woman whose image can be fantasized ad infinitum. In general, the paintings of Boris Valedzho speak of the beauty of the human body. On the need to resist the urges of animal passion. Through the creation of new worlds, he expanded the inner space of his viewers. Taught us to be brave. For the Universe of Valeggio is a cult of extremely erotic interchanges. Relatively long and quickly becoming famous and popular artist, now Valeggio releases one album after another. Without a doubt, he is a prophet and sovereign master of the Fantasy Art genre. Author of the new sexual world proudly marches ahead of a host of charms and heroes, monsters and witches. For Boris Valedzho himself, the newly discovered paths are strewn with roses and gold of huge fees. But where will they take the viewer? Who each of us has to incarnate in erotic dreams coming night - a monster or a hero? Let everyone make their own choice.
