The Great Chicago Fire in 1871. A Chicago water crib fire in 1909. The Loop “L” train derailment in 1977. An ill-fated Flight 191 accident in 1979. Depictions of those Chicago calamities were all created by Eric Edward Esper.
A Chicago artist creates images that are as frightening as they are fascinating.Eric Edward Esper paints accurate historical depictions of terrifying tragedies – fires, tornadoes and nautical disasters that took place in Chicago and elsewhere.
A railway disaster in Ohio in 1867. A circus fire in Connecticut in 1944. The sinking of the Lady Elgin in Lake Michigan in 1860.with his recreation of the Iroquois Theater fire of 1903.“I originally became interested in history from reading war history, which is, you know, very disastrous itself and then I became interested in historical disasters from watching documentaries on Channel 11, WTTW,” Esper said.
In much of his work there’s an emphasis on the Midwest. Take the 1896 tornado that struck downtown St. Louis or the firestorm in Peshtigo, Wisconsin that occurred the same day as the Great Chicago Fire.“I watch as much information on TV as I can find, lots of internet searches for photographs, lots of that, and I read two or three books if I can find that many on the event,” he said. “That’s important to me, to try and get the details right.
Sometimes Esper paints landscapes of places related to notorious moments – the Spahn Ranch in California, headquarters to Charles Manson and his family, for example.Other dark days depicted in Chicago history include the fire at Our Lady of Angels and the ill-fated Flight 191. “I always try and keep it a little tasteful, without trying to depict death,” Esper said. “It’s more realizing that that’s happening then it is depicting it.”“I used to do antique poster restoration so I was into old illustration posters ...,” he said. “Then I got into the history from watching documentaries and that inspired me to paint the most dramatic scenes I could imagine, you know.
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