What is common between Bosch's paintings and children's books, or What is Wimmelbuch

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is strange to think that the prototypes of these children's, at first glance, books were the mysterious and disturbing paintings of Bosch and the genre paintings of Pieter Bruegel. But the connection between the works of the Flemings and the pictures of the Wimmelbuchs is noticeable even to an inexperienced viewer. Is this why some of these books are perceived as real works of art? Will they ever become the same obscure graphic narratives about the everyday life of the past?

Endless stories in pictures

Wimmelbuch, literally translated as "flickering book", appeared in Germany, and it is there that such books are especially loved and popular. It is believed that the first Wimmelbuch was a publication called "All Around in My City", published in 1968. The author, artist and writer Ali Mitguch, was inspired to create his creation by ancient paintings and engravings by European masters, which depicted a large number of people and objects that captivate the viewer's attention for a long time.

Wimmelbuch is a large-format book, its pages are filled with visual information as much as possible, literally every square centimeter of the spread is used. There is no text in such books or there is very little of it, the main thing in Wimmelbuch is the opportunity to look into a certain painted world, which seems to live its own life, and quite rich, because the pictures depict many different actions and events.

Of course, the main addressee of Wimmelbuchs are children who learn to speak and develop speech, but still the age audience for such books is unlimited. Pictures inevitably attract and retain attention, reminding them of a dollhouse, where you want to take each of the miniature objects in your hands and take a good look. In addition, houses - often multi-storey ones - are drawn on the pages of the Wimmelbuchs in a section, showing everyday life scenes and situations, everyday life.

Over time - and more than half a century has passed since the appearance of the Wimmelbuchs - such books become not just a way to take leisure time or immerse themselves with children in looking at and looking for pictures; these books also preserve the memory of the past, because few things change so irrevocably as everyday life and everyday life that they continue to live on the pages of Wimmelbuch. In this sense, some "flickering books" may really deserve a place among the works of art.

Wimmelbuch history and prototypes: the great Flemings

If we look for analogues of Wimmelbuch in the art of the past, then first of all we should name two Dutch masters - Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Hieronymus Bosch, whose real name is Jeroen Antonison van Aken, was one of the most mysterious artists of his time. He was born in 1450 and died at the age of fifty-six, leaving behind a strange, indecipherable creative legacy, the meaning of which has been argued for centuries.

What exactly the artist wanted to express by depicting complex combinations of images, symbols, characters that are completely realistic and completely fantastic is a debatable question. Perhaps in this way he turned to the subconscious of a person, or encrypted alchemical theses and formulas, or retelling folk tales, or maybe he just tried to entertain the viewer. The names that the artist gave to his works are unknown, just as the chronology of their creation has not been established.

The most famous Dutch master of the next, 16th century, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, became famous for his landscapes and genre scenes - he also did not leave the names of his works for posterity. His paintings, especially from the series "Upside Down World", in fact, became the prototypes of the Wimmelbuchs.

Hans Jürgen Press, a German illustrator and author of twentieth century books, is often referred to as the "Father of Wimmelbuch".

Who and how created the most famous wimmelbuchs

Ali, or Alphonse Mitguch, who has published more than 70 books in several dozen languages in his career, took on his first Wimmelbuch thanks to a perfect trip around the world. It was a long adventure, with Mitguch wandering for seventeen years. He lived for a long time in different cities and countries, observed how everyday life was arranged in them and what situations happened to local residents. He did not write all this in the form of text, and the images that remained in his head were reflected in the spreads of a large book.

Mitguch applied a technique that was used by the engravers of the 17th century - the so-called "cavalry perspective". The viewer sees the figures slightly from above. The characters are depicted without taking into account the rules of linear perspective, they are the same size regardless of location. Since then, the creators of the world-famous Wimmelbuchs have been artists not only from Germany, but also around the world. Rothraut Suzanne Berner, Anna Seuss, Thierry Laval, Leela Leiber came up with and implemented ideas for creating such detailed worlds on the pages of books. Richard Scarry has published over 300 books in his lifetime, including many Wimmelbuchs.

When looking at a Wimmelbuch, the reader himself comes up with a story, each illustration leaves room for imagination, allows you to start looking at the picture from any point. Of course, such properties of Wimmelbuchs make it possible to use them in teaching children, including those studying a foreign language.

Close, but still different from wimmelbuchs, types of books with large detailed pictures are puzzle books, where the reader is tasked with performing some action, finding a solution. Among them, one of the most popular was the series "Where is Wally?" British illustrator Martin Handford. Wally, a man in a striped red and white sweater and a hat, glasses, needs to be found on pages with a huge number of characters and details - it's not at all easy. In America, this cycle is published under the title "Where is Waldo?"

about the "Tower of Babel" by Pieter Bruegel