“THE HISTORY OF ART IN 21 CATS” – The wackiest cats frequent the most impressive picture book November 28, 2023 – Posted in: Books – Tags: 21 Cats, 21 currents, book, Fluffy
“The History of Art in 21 Cats”. Nia Gould
In the visual world created by Nia Gould, one can meet the most eccentric cats. Cloud-eyed cats, cubic whiskers, mosaic tails, calipers. Others with fleshy lips, jewelry, hats or furs and others linear or abstract. Some more pop, others more punk, living room or street! All together they represent the 21 most important artistic currents of the world.
From Ancient Egypt to the new British artists
It is an amazing visual achievement, capable of familiarizing any reader who holds it in their hands with the art of painting, from 500 BC. in Ancient Egypt even the current of Young British artists of 1988.
The range of different visual periods and currents covered is very large, yet the text is presented in a comprehensible manner and divided into sections that present and explain the different styles, objects, patterns and colors of each period. Of course, the most valuable element in this particular book is its rich and fantastic illustration Nia Gould, which makes it an accessible read for both children and adults, regardless of the degree of each reader's personal interest or engagement with the arts. It can thus function as an important reference point for any reader, but also as an educational tool.
So a distance is traveled that passes through the Renaissance, him surrealism, the rococo, him minimalism, but also him phobia, him dadaism or him pointillism. Accordingly, he introduces the reader/observer to lesser or better known painters, such as Van Gogh, The Renoir, The Degas or o Cézanne and many more.
21 currents but also 21 different, eccentric personalities...
The cat remains nowadays the ultimate symbol of independence, but over the years it has played all sorts of "roles" in different societies, in religions, and even in prejudices and superstitions.
In the book the cat is symbolized in 21 different ways in order to wear each time the different characteristics of the different currents in which it is the protagonist.
But in addition to extracting knowledge about art and the corresponding historical information that surrounds it, Nia Gould has managed to do something even more important· to create 21 different cat personalities, with a different style and expression, body posture, accessories, habits, interests, while even the behavioral deviations of one from the other are almost apparent. In other words, 21, without a doubt, leading personalities have been formed, each of which has something special to offer the recipient, as they have acquired an almost human form and characteristics.
The book thus becomes meaningful even for preschool children, who may not be able to understand its visual and historical meaning, but can enjoy the colorful different cats.
...and they all look you in the eye!
It is of great interest to note that none of the feline figures have closed eyes, or eyes as formed in a profile figure. All of them are wide-eyed. They look and introduce themselves directly to the recipient, magnetizing his own gaze on them.
Even the only cat standing in profile, the Egyptian, is designed with the feature eye of the god Horus, while in its current Dadaism real cat eyes from a photo have been used, using the collage technique.
And somewhere among the 21 pairs of eyes, one, housed under a long single eyebrow. Is Frida Kahlo which "transforms" into a cat to serve the current of mholy realism.
A book ideal to flip through and look at again and again even after reading it and it will always give you the feeling that on every page there is a unique cat that in turn... is looking at you.
Panopoulou Nefelis
Go to the book Page by clicking on the image
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