"In an utilitarian age, of all other times, it is a matter of grave importance that fairy tales should be respected." - Charles Dickens. The golden age of fairy painting lasted between 1840-1870 when fairies found expression in most of the Victorian arts - paintings, illustration, literature, theatre, ballet and music. The Victorians wanted desperately to believe in fairies because they represented a way to escape the intolerable reality of living in an unromantic, materialistic and scientific age. Fairy painting had a strong literary background. The books of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen perfected the Victorian consciousness. Shakespeare was an even more important source in particular with "The Tempest" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Another influence was the Victorian obsession with the supernatural, spiritualism and the unseen world.
