Henri Rousseau

Jaguar eating black guy, jaguar eating horse, jaguar about to eat black guy's family, ssssnake charmer, ssssssneaky jaguar: Jungle paintings.
 

Why Dictators Love Kitsch

Why Dictators Love Kitsch, by Eric Gibson at the Wall Street Journal.

Yoshitaka Amano

Japanese illustrator Yoshitaka Amano created the art for Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy.

Paul Laffoley

Work from the Boston Visionary Cell. More at his blog.

Amy Bennett

Amy Bennett paints from small scale models of imagined towns. In her own words (highlighting is mine):

"For my previous project I constructed a fictional model neighborhood. I considered who lived in each home, their family dramas, and the way their private lives might spill into view of their neighbors. The model became a stage on which to develop the psychological implications of belonging to a particular family, with all of its dramas, struggles and familiar routines. I thought: this tree will be taken down after an old man crashes into it; a father will transform this lawn into an ice skating rink; this house will be abandoned after its residents are scandalized on the evening news. As I transitioned my model into winter, snowbanks of increasing depth seemed to fortify a sense of isolation and quietness. The paintings portray both the magical and suffocating potential of snow, wonder at its stark beauty and hopelessness that spring might never come."

Rebecca Saylor-Sack

Rebecca Saylor-Sack.