The sad truth is that artists who work in marginalized genres such as horror or fantasy are often relegated to eventual obscurity. The recently published Arts Unknown: The Life & Art of Lee Brown Coye is a wonderful opportunity to rediscover an artist whose work has gone mostly unnoticed in the annals of twentieth century art. Luis Ortiz has taken care to assemble a handsome, though slim, coffee-table book that combines a biography of Coye with many beautiful and morbid selections of his phantasmagorical illustrations and paintings. Upon reading Arts Unknown, I was ashamed to discover that Coye’s life had been lived in close proximity to where I was born and bred, yet I had been completely unaware that the area held claim to a once-esteemed master of the macabre. I was even more ashamed to discover that Coye was the artist responsible for my all-time favorite book cover for a H.P. Lovecraft collection. This is perhaps the great joy that reading Arts Unknown can bring–you feel as if you are unearthing forgotten masterpieces of the macabre the further you delve into Coye’s interesting life. This sense of uncovering a forgotten artist from central New York gives momentum to the book; it also forces you to wonder what else has been lost to our cultural iconography. Luis Ortiz deftly covers Coye’s life–the biographical content alone will be worth pursuing for anyone interested in tangents of the Cthulhu Mythos and pulp terrors, as Coye worked as an illustrator for Weird Tales and was responsible for many of the graphically depicted horrors unleashed by Arkham House. However, despite Coye’s reputation being largely based on his morbid imaginings, it is interesting to learn that he was also an accomplished fine artist: his work was also shown at the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Golden Gate Exposition, and in other prominent collections. The breadth of Coye’s work is noteworthy; Coye was not only a graphic artist, but a talented sculptor, diorama artist, model maker, and wood worker. Luckily, all periods of Coye’s work are well represented in Ortiz’s book. The illustrations include Coye’s horrific cover and interior work for the Weird Tales and Short Stories pulp magazines, his work for dust jackets, his regional water colors and paintings, as well as oddities such as silver jewelry and a whale carving. The anecdotes in Arts Unknown range from the heart warming to the hilarious. I doubt any but the dourest of individuals could read the story of Coye being commissioned to construct a reliquary for the finger bone of a 16th century Jesuit without cracking a smile. Of interest to fans of the Blair Witch will be the tale of Coye’s unnerving discovery in the woods, which may have indirectly inspired one of the biggest genre films of modern times. Coye’s life is also an inspiring read for anyone involved in the arts. Coye leapt into the art world without looking back, even though the climate of the times was most often against him. Despite the fact that he often had to support himself and his family by taking work as a commercial artist, Coye never stopped believing in the power of his own dream. While he may never have “made it” by our contemporary definition of a successful artist, he stayed true to his vision and was constantly refining his own artist process. One cannot help but see the progression of his work outlined in the collection of images in Arts Unknown. Ultimately, it makes for a portrait of a man who was never quite satisfied with his artistic expressions, yet unwilling to give up the cause. Coye was always moving to the next project, the next possibility for perfection; this, too, is the exemplary expression of the artistic life.

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