The Art of Babar

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Ann Meinzen Hildebrand

In 1931 Jean de Brunhoff introduced French children to a little elephant by the name of Babar, a gentle, charming character whose journey from orphaned forest dweller to dapper, convivial sophisticate is chronicled in L'Histoire de Babar, the first in a series of stories that has captivated children the world over. In this book and the six that followed, de Brunhoff created an idyllic world in which Babar, wearing spats and driving a little red convertible, marries, has children, travels extensively, and is eventually crowned king of the elephants, all the while espousing a quintessentially French ideal--bonheur--and placing a high premium on family affection, discipline, and benevolence. Laurent de Brunhoff finished some of the manuscripts left incomplete on his father's death in 1937 and then wrote Babar stories of his own, continuing a storytelling legacy in which the perplexities of modern living are always reconciled with traditional values. The rendering of situations in which aplomb and elegance occur simultaneously with action and adventure is the hallmark of the de Brunhoffs' illustrations, so distinct with their bold lines and primary colors. In her unique study of the Babar milieu, Ann Meinzen Hildebrand looks at the de Brunhoffs' complete works, analyzing the thematic development of the stories and commenting on the essential role of the illustrations. Acknowledging the differences between the work of father and son, Hildebrand attributes the series' continuing popularity to the way in which both artists have created an elephant cosmos that is a mirror of real and ideal life. She shows how de Brunhoff pere et fils have eschewed simple "animal fantasy" for fascinating characters who respond to everyday situations, both tragic and frivolous, thoughtfully and act on the principles of perseverance, patience, hope, and courage. Hildebrand's comprehensive study establishes the genius of the de Brunhoffs and explains how one kindly, nondidactic elephant in a derby hat has become such a socializing force for young readers.

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Richard Whelan

"Seventy pairs of photographs, ranging in date from the earliest days of the medium to the present, document instances where, by direct influence or pure coincidence, two photographers were drawn to identical or very similar subjects. Though alike in content, the photographs within the pairs are strikingly different - unique in their formal and technical details and in the varying perceptions they describe." -- Cover flap.

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Richard Green, Eric Handley

History of Greek theatre as represented in painted pottery, terracotta figures, sculpture, mosaics ans gems - How it was seen by audiences of the fourth and fifth centuries.

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Joshua Shannon

A revealing look at the irrevocable change in art during the 1960s and its relationship to the modern culture of fact This refreshing and erudite book offers a new understanding of the transformation of photography and the visual arts around 1968. Author Joshua Shannon reveals an oddly stringent realism in the period, tracing artists' rejection of essential truths in favor of surface appearances. Dubbing this tendency factualism, Shannon illuminates not only the Cold War's preoccupation with data but also the rise of a pervasive culture of fact. Focusing on the United States and West Germany, where photodocumentary traditions intersected with 1960s politics, Shannon investigates a broad variety of art, ranging from conceptual photography and earthworks to photorealist painting and abstraction. He looks closely at art by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Robert Bechtle, Vija Celmins, Douglas Huebler, Gerhard Richter, and others. These artists explored fact's role as a modern paradigm for talking, thinking, and knowing. Their art, Shannon concludes, helps to explain both the ambivalent anti-humanism of today's avant-garde art and our own culture of fact.