Flying Around

 Oscar Rabe Hanson, 1926

Just back from a brief but wonderful trip to Barcelona,

I am getting ready to leave for a few days in Paris...

I love to travel, but wish I had my own wings 

instead of flying with Ryanair

 Battetti, 1930s

Lucien Boucher, 1948, thanks to Paul Malon

Charley Harper, 1951

Two 1950s posters for Braniff

Jacques Dubois, 1956

Jean Colin, 1958

Thanks to Sandi Vincent

via the Simmonds Collection

Pablo Picasso, 1963

Georges Mathieu, 1968

Wiktor Górka, 1968

Raymond Savignac

Butterfly Effect

Carlo Marchiori

Maya jumps around trying to catch butterflies, what a happy springtime sight

Odilon Redon, Evocation of Butterflies, 1911

Rana Salam

Elsa Mora

Celyn Brazier

The White Deer

Anne Siems, Landing (detail)

Fred Tomaselli

Louise Richardson

Delphine Lebourgeois

Ana Juan

David Kracov, Book of Life

Vladimir Kush, Departure of the Winged Ship

for more, visit my previous butterfly gallery here

Basking in the Light

Žabáček, 1982

The loveliness of the first sunny days of this late-coming Spring inspired me to post some pictures

from the gentle green worlds of Czech artist Jan Kudláček. Born in 1928 in Moravia and living in Prague, 

Kudláček is a painter, graphic artist, and above all an award winning illustrator who since 1963

has published almost a hundred children's books. His distinctive style and brushwork technique 

convey a vibrant and luminous quality to his joyful and poetic illustrations of nature,

 flowers, small animals and fairytale creatures. 

Petruschka, 1970

Holčička a déšt' (A Little Girl and Rain), 1974, thanks to Arthur van Kruining

Svatba v rybníce (Wedding in a pond), 1982, 

all photos thanks to micky the pixel

Svatba v rybníce, 1982

 Zlatý proutek (Golden Wand), 1983

 Jussi ja kalat, 1989

Pohádková lampička (Fairy-tale lamp), 1992

Pohádky pro skřítka Hajaju (Tales for Sprites), 1995 

WIld Tapestries

Eaux profondes, 1960

Jean Picart le Doux was a French painter, illustrator and one of the most productive tapestry designers

 of the 20th century. He was born in Paris in 1902, the son of painter Charles Picart le Doux,

 and after studying art made his debut in bookbinding and publishing. During the 1930s he turned to advertising 

and graphic design, working in a style influenced by Cassandre and other great French poster artists

 of the time. In 1942 he won the Grand Prix of the theater poster. 

 In 1939 Picart le Doux met Jean Lurçat, the most important figure in the renaissance of French tapestry

 in the early 20th century (blog post to follow). At the time Lurçat had settled in Aubusson

 at the request of the French Ministry of National Education to create a new center for tapestry design

 and production. The two men became close associates, and in 1943 le Doux created his first tapestry cartoons

  for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. In 1947, together with Marc Saint-Saëns, they founded

 the Association of Tapestry Cartoon-Painters to promote the revival of tapestry design. 

Le Chalut, 1952 

This group of artists shared the same theories and aesthetics. They believed that tapestries

 should be original works of art rather than copies of paintings. Their works utilized a limited color palette

 and symbolic subject matter. They were conceived for hanging on walls and specific architectural spaces,

 and were often commissioned by the state to be showcased in in embassies, museums, schools and public buildings.

1962

Flore des Tropiques, 1961

Le Chant du Matin, 1965 ca.

Picart le Doux designed over four hundred original tapestries during his lifetime. He also continued

 to work as a commercial artist, and during the 1950s designed a series of posters for the French Tourist Office.

 In 1951 he was one of the founding fathers of ​​the Alliance Graphique Internationale with Jean Colin,

 Jacques Nathan Garamond, Fritz Bühler and Donald Brun, and became the association's first president. 

He also produced lithographs, and Illustrated deluxe editions and artist books by major French authors 

including Jean Cocteau, Verlaine, Baudelaire Apollinaire, and Colette. Picart le Doux had many exhibitions

 throughout his life (he died in 1982), and his works can be found in the collections 

of numerous museums in France and abroad.

Aquarium, lithograph

La Tortue, lithograph, 1962 

Owl from Apollinaire's Bestiaire