Product Description

In the fantastic portraits of the 16th-century painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, compositions of fruit, vegetables, flowers, books, animals or garden tools magically turn into vivid depictions of beautiful young women, weathered old men or the personifications of the seasons and elements. This book is one of a series of books for children which shows how Arcimboldo's portraits made him a celebrated artist in court circles and a unique painter in the history of art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1073735 in Books
• Published on: 1999-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 28 pages

Customer Reviews

the weirdest pictures
I think children of all ages ( I am 38!) will love this book, and not just for the fun title ! It's part of the excellent Adventures in Art series by the German publisher Prestel, a series that introduces primary school age children to some famous artists.The artist under consideration here is Giuseppe Arcimboldo, extremely famous in his day (late C16th) but now known exclusively for the handful of paintings he made depicting people made up entirely of fruit, or animals, or marine creatures, or (in one case) legal documents.

The text varies somewhat to the other Adventures in Art texts I have seen.Whereas they focus on the artist's process, this one is more of a meditation on the completed works, presumably because not much is known about Arcimboldo's way of working.

If you know anything about the Surrealists, you will see immediately why they considered Arcimboldo as one of their own.

As for WHY he painted such odd and, yes, rather disturbing paintings -I don't think anyone really knows.

Other books available in the series feature Paul Klee, Henri Rousseau, Gustav Klimt and, particularly brave in view of her subject-matter, Frida Kahlo.