Friday, July 1, 2011

Picture Book Biographies About Modern Art and Artists

"Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude.
And Alice is Alice.
And Gertrude and Alice are Gertrude and Alice."

In this playful picture book biography of Modernist poet Gertrude Stein, author Jonah Winter adopts a style similar to Stein’s repetitive, declarative, grammar-bending writing, playing up the elements of humor and fun. Gertrude and Alice’s world is revealed in scenes from their life in Paris in the nineteen-teens, including a party with their artist friends:

“It’s Pablo Picasso the Spanish artist.
 Pablo Picasso looks so angry but no.
Pablo Picasso is Pablo Picasso.
He just invented Modern art
which is not the same as being angry
but then again maybe it is.
Maybe it is
and maybe it isn’t.
Then again maybe it is.
It’s so hard to invent
Modern art.
Maybe it is
and
maybe it isn’t.
Maybe.”

Gertrude writes, Alice types, they go for a walk with Basket the dog, they drive in the countryside and have a dinner party. Colorful, painterly illustrations by Calef Brown fill the pages, and the bold text marches around the page in varying sizes. Modern art is the underlying subject of this biography, but one of its principles seems to apply just as readily to its primary subject: “A picture is a picture. It can be whatever it wants to be.” In Winter's biography, Gertrude Stein is happy and confident being her idiosyncratic self.

This book is a welcoming introduction to Modern art and Modernism – it would be a great choice for teachers working on relevant arts or history units. Its breezy, cheerful tone would also make it equally fun for a family read-aloud. Kids who are excited about art, or adults interested in the characters populating the art world of Paris in the early 20th century, will enjoy this unusual biography.

Other picture book biographies of modern artists:
Ballet for Martha: the Making of Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenburg
Action Jackson by Jan Greenburg and Sandra Jordan
Frida by Jonah Winter
Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail by Laurence Anholt