A recent announcement of an exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, titled Artist as Narrator: Nineteenth Century Narrative Art in England and France suggests an interesting(?) question.

The above announcement of the exhibit describes it:

The exhibition explores the visual interpretations of prose, poetry, legends, and myths through paintings, prints, and drawings, illustrating the close relationships between the written, oral, and visual arts in nineteenth-century England and France.

(The official page for the museum is at Oklahoma City Museum of Art.)

The announcement doesn't specifically mention connections to Folklore in our usual sense; but raises the question – have artists produced "narrative works" depicting well known (or vaguely known) folk tales, folk songs, and lore?

Of particular interest would be an artwork depicting a folk legend (possibly an actual historical event) for which we have a song or two.

There are of course many works that depict famous and/or notorious historical and political events, and certainly some of these have produced "folk songs," but I'm afraid my own familiarity, especially with the songs and their historical significance, doesn't readily make the connections with any certainty. The numerous works that depict "folk dancers" or musicians don't really have much specific relationship to any particular folk tale/song. A few artists have done a lot of work depicting mythical characters. Robin Buick comes to mind, but I don't know a song about Niamh or Gráinne.

Any examples come to mind?

Barring an artwork made specifically to illustrate a folk legend, perhaps one that could illustrate a particular one?

As a footnote here, those who are artily inclined and want to browse for appropriate stuff may be interested in another thread at Web Art Update. I've looked at those works, but haven't made the connections. I might consider visiting the Okie exhibit, but it's about a 500 mile (800 km) round trip, and would take all day (and quite a bit of gas).

John