Frau Sakra combines art and text to weave tantalizing stories from history and fiction in this collection. Murderers Burke and Hare, Viking warrior Ivar the Boneless, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, author and playwright Oscar Wilde and his illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, the ill-fated H. P. Lovecraft character Arthur Jermyn, and the serial killer depicted in the film “The Night of the Hunter” are among the controversial figures subjected to uncomfortably close examination. Extensive editorial and pictorial research precedes the execution of Frau Sakra's drawings and paintings. The end result combines elements of encyclopedic text, book illustration, fine art, and poster art.

Frau Sakra (aka Thea Saks) is largely self-taught; but during her 15-year first career as a book and scientific journal editor in New York, she took night classes at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design. Now she lives in Los Angeles, and her vast home library of illustration, design, architecture, and literature helps feed her head with artistic ideas. Her work utilizes exceptional storytelling and focuses on tales of infamous people and events from the darker side of history.

Original Artwork For Sale (click image for larger picture):