photo from dumbo feather, photographer anna wolf
i mentioned back in august about reading the principals of uncertainty by the painter, maira kalman. since poring over that book, watching maira videos, and reading dozens of maira interviews going back a decade or more, i'm starting to see her influence on so many artists. things i never noticed before! from her collections to her handwriting to her painting style to her everything! her influence has been broad and deep. naturally, my curiosity led me to wonder about her art heros.
{one of my fav interviews HERE}
maira kalman writes:
A major influence on me is the painter Charlotte Salomon. She was a Jewish woman living in Berlin before World War Two. She went into hiding and then was killed by the Nazis in her late 20s. She painted over 1,000 gouaches of her life, and a series about her crazy family. It's amazing that they survived, and they're glorious works. To me they're perfect.
the jewish historical museum in amsterdam holds the complete collection of guoache paintings by charlotte salomon. i'm somewhat disappointed that they aren't on permanent exhibit, so i can see them in person, but fortunately, they can be viewed in their entirety HERE.
{another brilliant maira interview HERE}
another remarkable influence of maira's is none other than ludwig bemelmans !
she writes:
Ludwig Bemelmans is a hero of mine. He wrote and painted for adults and children about his travels and his life. That sounds good to me.
now i'm going to go paint some juicy pomegranates in my sketchbook and think about maira, charlotte, and ludwig. and i might drink an ice cold blue moon beer while i do it. in fact i am sure of it!
Great post Mary Ann!!!! I remember when Maria’s book TPOU first came out and I poured over it at Borders but at the time funds were tight so I waited and over the last few years it kind of got forgotten in the shuffle and then you shared about it a few posts back and I ordered a copy on Amazon. Thank the world for Amazon, my copy came and I’ve been delighted and happy as a clam with it. I also picked up a couple others too, love finding a book at a bargain price. Anyhoo, thanks for all the cool links and Charlotte’s work is wonderful. Love it when you get into a ‘search and find’ mode. You are an artist’s super sleuth and way better than ‘google’ or ‘bing’ xox
high five for another inspiring post.
The “Maira Vein” runs deep and wide.
(and how can her studio table water jar be SO clear??!!!)
Mary Ann,
Fyi there are two oversized books FULL of Charlotte’s artwork available. There are also a couple of biographies. All are well worth having and can be found at a range of prices (I’ve also seen some at our local L.A. used bookstores.) All three artists you mentioned are some of my favorites. Every time Maira comes out with a new book, I am first in line. Have you looked at her husband, Tibor’s work?
I’ve always found it fascinating how you can see someone’s influence in another’s artwork. It’s almost like a game for me at times.
Thank you so much for introducing me to Charlotte Saloman. I looked through some of her paintings via your link and several brought tears to my eyes. It was amazing how prolific and talented she was during such a dreadful time in humanities history.