Harold McNeill
| Harold McNeill | |
|---|---|
 Harold McNeill | |
| General Information | |
| Status | Inactive: Legends to Tempest |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
Harold Arthur McNeill is a former Magic: The Gathering artist. He was active from 1994 to 1997. He drew community attention again in 2020, when a card he had illustrated two decades earlier was banned for being culturally offensive.
Art style
McNeill's Magic art tends towards monochrome palettes and intricate geometric shapes. His personal website described his art as Gothic symbolism,[1] and held a gallery containing images of "swastikas, Adolf Hitler, crusader knights and highly sexualized depictions of women".[2] That website is no longer online as of mid-2022.
At least as early as 2014, observers in the Magic community had expressed concerns about the themes in McNeill's work, and noted that one card in particular, Invoke Prejudice, had the Multiverse index number 1488, a far-right symbol.[3] Later commentary described other hate symbols in his Magic artwork.[4]
Banning
In June 2020, Wizards of the Coast banned seven cards that were deemed culturally offensive. Among them was McNeill's Invoke Prejudice. The art director who had commissioned the card, Jesper Myrfors, stated that the art was inspired by garments worn during the Spanish Inquisition, but acknowledged the resemblance to the KKK and agreed with Wizards' decision. McNeill also linked his artwork to the Spanish Inquisition.[2] The Multiverse ID for Invoke Prejudice was changed from 1488 to 485302.[5][6]
References
- ↑ Harold Arthur McNeill - Home. Archived from the original on Marsh 12 2022.
- ↑ a b Rob Wolfe (June 22, 2020). "'Racist' and 'culturally offensive' images pulled from popular card game Magic: The Gathering". Archived from the original on March 29, 2024.
- ↑ The art and insanity of Harold McNeil (June 1, 2014). Archived from the original on March 27, 2024.
- ↑ Beware of Magic: the Gathering, part II (February 27, 2018). Archived from the original on January 13, 2025.
- ↑ The Controversy Surrounding Invoke Prejudice in Magic the Gathering (January 2, 2025). Archived from the original on March 4, 2025.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (June 10, 2020). "Depictions of Racism in Magic". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.