I Am Marc Chagall

by Bimba Landmann

Overview

The life of modern artist Marc Chagall is celebrated in this highly original picture book, based loosely on the artist’s own autobiography.

Loosely based on Marc Chagall's autobiography, Bimba Landmann’s first-person story offers readers a personal glimpse into the early life of one of the 20th century's most significant modern painters – from childhood, when he would daydream during prayers, to school, where he was distracted, and at home where he worried about his future – all to the ultimate realization of his artistic talent.

I painted my world, my life, all the things I loved, all the things I dreamed of, all the things I could not say in words. I painted my beloved Russia, my hometown Vitebsk, the Jewish neighborhood where I grew up, the way I saw everything as a child.

Landmann uses charming three-dimensional mixed-media illustrations to celebrate the colorful, the whimsical, and the extraordinary aspects of Chagall's life and work, his unusual way of looking at the world into color and shape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802853059
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	01/01/2006
Series:	Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Pages:	34
Product dimensions:	8.62(w) x 12.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Bimba Landmann has illustrated over a dozen children'sbooks, including Clare and Francis, InSearch of the Little Prince, and I Am MarcChagall (all Eerdmans). Bimba was born in Milan, Italy,where she currently lives with her husband and son.

Editorial Reviews

Reflecting [Chagall's] style, the three-dimensional illustrations are constructed from an eclectic assortment of materials. . . Readers will be fascinated by these unusual pictures and the beautifully told story.”—School Library Journal

"An engrossing tale of artistic evolution that brings us close to Chagall's magical insights."—School Arts

"A feast for the eyes and a penetrating look at the joys and tribulations of one of the 20th century's most significant painters."—The Jerusalem Post

"Evocative…The art is a dreamlike confection."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"The palette itself is straight from Chagall, each spread dominated by purples, reds, blues, or greens. A timeline provides concrete facts, but the overall effect of the whole inevitably (and perhaps appropriately) emphasizes image over mere biography."—Kirkus Reviews

"Landmann's remarkable shadowbox constructions underscore her subject's view of the fluid boundaries between the mystical and the mundane, representing literal biographical scenes interspersed with the artist's signature soaring farm animals or spiritual symbols."—Booklist

From the Publisher

Hot on the heels of Michelle Markel's Dreamer from the Village (2005) comes another picture-book biography of the great 20th-century surrealist, this one illustrated with stunningly three-dimensional mixed-media collages. Landmann bases her narrative "loosely" on the artist's autobiography, My Life, allowing her subject to speak directly to the reader: "I painted my world, my life, all the things I loved, all the things I dreamed of, all the things I could not say in words." The technique is relatively successful in conveying the spirit of Chagall's vision, if of dubious nonfiction merit. But the illustrations so overshadow the text that for readers, it will hardly matter. Chagall himself is depicted with a fluff of purple fuzz for hair and posed bits of fabric for a body. A series of shallow dioramas constructed of corrugated cardboard, twigs, wire and fabric present events and translate verbal images in dizzyingly complex tableaux. The palette itself is straight from Chagall, each spread dominated by purples, reds, blues or greens. A timeline provides concrete facts, but the overall effect of the whole inevitably (and perhaps appropriately) emphasizes image over mere biography. (Picture book/biography. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews