Prior to his disappearance, Herbert Crowley was an innovator at the dawn of comics, and a defining figure of the early 20th century avant-garde.

His illustrations were featured alongside work by Picasso, Matisse and Van Gogh in the 1913 Armory Show that gave birth to modern art in America. His newspaper strip THE WIGGLEMUCH was printed next to Winsor McCay's LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND in the New York Herald. He had a close relationship with Carl Jung, and was a noted mainstay of the burgeoning NYC experimental art scene.

And yet he's been completely erased from history. Aside from a very small selection of his comics, none of his artwork has been published or collected in any form.

Until now. Over the course of six years of deep research, we have unearthed a huge number of Crowley paintings, sculptures, illustrations, comics, prints, engravings and ephemera.

Contained in this tome you'll find hundreds of jaw-dropping images of otherworldly shrines, whimsical cartoons, grotesque creatures, nightmares and dreamscapes. You will encounter impossible symbolism, encrypted glyphs, and the yearning visual poetry of a brilliant, tormented spirit.

Enter THE TEMPLE OF SILENCE, and behold the strange, astonishing visions of a lost legend of modern art. Prior to his disappearance, Herbert Crowley was an innovator at the dawn of comics, and a defining figure of the early 20th century avant-garde.

Author: Justin Duerr
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Beehive Books
Published: 04/02/2019
Pages: 108
Weight: 4.1lbs
Size: 19.30h x 13.40w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780997372991


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2019 pg. 57

About the Author
Philadelphia artist, musician, and scholar Justin Duerr is best known for his research documented in the 2011 Sundance award-winning documentary Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles. The term obsessive is very often employed in describing both his artwork and his unflagging commitment to research. His devotion to this project has been characteristically all-consuming. By following every possible lead and dissecting every available trace of Herbert Crowley around the world, he has managed to uncover a remarkable story, resurrect a lost piece of art history, and unearth the heart-stopping artworks of a true forgotten visionary. The rediscovery of Herbert E. Crowley is the second major research undertaking of Duerr's life.

Josh O'Neill is the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning co-founder of the small presses Locust Moon and Beehive Books. An editor, author, educator, curator, journalist and publisher, O'Neill has created books and articles for clients including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Atlantic, Dark Horse Comics, Toon Books, IDW and Amazon. He is also a former retailer who ran a comic shop and annual comics festival in West Philadelphia. The City Paper wrote that you can't talk about Philadelphia comics without talking about Josh O'Neill.