Monday, January 20, 2014

Flying on the Back of a Giant


Here's a picture of a kid riding through the sky on a giant troll by Swedish artist Gustaf Tenggren.


The detail shows the loving exaggeration of the nose, the droopy lip, and the tendrils on the ear. I love the worried expression of the rider.

Speaking of young person riding a giant magical humanoid through the sky, I'm reminded of one of my favorite pictures, painted in watercolor by José Segrelles (1885-1969). It shows a young man flying on the back of a genie. You can't see either of their faces, only the paired hands and feet of the giant, who swims through the golden vapors, his hair and the hem of his garment blown forward by a spice-scented tailwind.

There's not enough published about Segrelles on the web, so please share this one with people who you think might like it. There's only one good book on Segrelles that I know of, Jose Segrelles Albert: Su vida y su obra (Spanish Edition), rather expensive, but well worth it, especially if you can read the Spanish.
More about Tenggren at the Gustaf Tenggren blog
Thanks, Bertil Saukkoriipi



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5 comments:

  1. Fairy artistJanuary 20, 2014 at 1:09 PM

    I can see the wonderful lighting in the second picture and the wind is captured magnificently! Such a beautiful peice of imagination :)

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  2. Gr8piperJanuary 20, 2014 at 1:45 PM

    Hi Jim,
    My favorite 'passenger on a flying giant' from my childhood was Arthur Syck's East Wind carrying the Prince: http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/s/szyk/03.jpg

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  3. RichJanuary 20, 2014 at 1:51 PM

    That Segrelles painting struck me as well: What a mighty tailwind keeps on pushing these figures through the air & landscape! And the genie's swimming style looks to me like some mixture between breaststroke and butterfly...

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  4. BettyJanuary 20, 2014 at 4:45 PM

    I love the look on the child's face!Fear and wonder!

    ReplyDelete
  5. K_tigressJanuary 20, 2014 at 11:37 PM

    Reminds me of that animated movie called The BFG or Big Friendly Giant. :)

    ReplyDelete

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