Five Pieces Of Classical Mythology In The Personal Drawings And Collection Of Guillermo Del Toro

A new exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art explores the private collection of art, comics, drawings and monsters that belong to filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The MIA is the second stop for this touring collection, which was previously on display at the LACMA in Los Angeles. From the Cyclops to the Cretan labyrinth, classical mythology heavily influences his art and how he curates his personal collection.

5. The Pale Man: Del Toro's 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth is arguably the one richest in allusions to classical mythology. One of the villains, Pale Man, is a mix of Homer's Cyclops with a heavy helping of Goya's depiction of Saturn in "Saturn Devouring His Son." The young Ofelia's quest to retrieve the dagger from his lair may be a Herculean task, but this myth is surely inspired by Polyphemus and Odysseus in the cyclops lair.

On a side note, as I have blogged about before, in the period of the later empire, the Cyclops myth remained popular and Polyphemus was often depicted with three eyes.

4. A Collection of Ray Harryhausen Paintings: The paintings were created by artist Daniel Horne, but depict monsters made famous by the greatest special effects artist (to my mind) of all time: Ray Harryhausen. My favorite of three paintings was one depicting the famous skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Harryhausen's death in 2013 was a huge loss to both classicists and lovers of horror films, and it seems that del Toro feels similarly.

In case you don't know the scene, make sure to check it out:

3. Latin Inscriptions: My favorite drawing was one on display with the young girl from Pan's Labyrinth named Ofelia. The care and purpose with which del Toro names all of his characters is perhaps only matched by Neil Gaiman, but Ofelia actually comes from the Greek word οφελος ("aid"). The drawing was done by del Toro's friend and graphic designer, Raúl Monge, who has worked on many of his films. The drawing of her passing through the gate in the movie is striking, because gates and boundary zones were so significant in antiquity. The stone transmits an ominous inscription: 'In consiliis nostris fatum nostrum est' (In our plans, there is our fate). 

2. A Medusa Painting From Disney's 'The Haunted Mansion' Ride: The exhibit makes it clear just how influential Walt Disney has been on del Toro's work. In addition to many other Disney drawings, there is a painting of the Medusa from the classic (1969) Disneyland ride 'The Haunted Mansion.' The ride is an immersive but aesthetically impressive horror experience, much like any del Toro film. The painting was done by famed Disney Imagineer Marc Davis, who also helped develop the rides 'It's A Small World' and the infamous 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' Check out more of Davis' artwork here.

1. The Underworld: Alright, this is more of a theme than one particular object, but the mythology surrounding the underworld (particularly the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice) is ubiquitous within the exhibit. As humans, we are perhaps all collectively fascinated by what gives us life and where we may go when we die, just like the Greeks and Romans were. Del Toro has always been a master of capitalizing on fear and anxiety surrounding this subject. Many of the drawings, collected art, monsters and comics on display at the MIA return to the topic of how we visualize the underworld. The diaries on display are stunning, and present drawings of characters from a number of his movies. My favorite was a drawing of Mr. Wink from Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008).

I find that one of the most interesting things about viewing the collections of creative people is the chance to examine the anatomy of an artist and perhaps isolate the muses that influenced and shaped their artwork. The things we create may speak to our personalities and influences, but the objects we keep and those we choose to throw away also say a great deal about our personal definition of "value." The exhibit at the MIA reveals that Guillermo del Toro has been influenced by equal parts modern art, classical myth, and pop culture, all of which allow him--when paired with his immense imagination--to create a unique and quite monstrous cosmology. Thanks for the look into your universe, Mr. del Toro. 

(Special thanks are given by the author to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and to Museum Educator Juline Chevalier).