May 2025
1h 15m
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WATCH THE EP HERE: https://youtu.be/9Y4po7xiX5o
We’re back with the 2nd dose of our CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE series, featuring the mysterious 1944 lithograph “Whodunit?” by artist, illustrator, printmaker and children’s book author: Wanda Gág!
We also discuss her work bringing German fairy tale energy to children’s literature in “Millions of Cats” from 1928.
In this episode, we discover Wanda Gag’s life lesson through her winding, warping, wonky, and wobbling images of interiors and landscapes.
Wanda was raised in a Bohemian community of German immigrants in New Ulm, Minnesota, in a house built and designed from scratch in the Queen Anne style by her artist father, Anton Gag.
Wanda’s story really is that of a modern fairytale involving a magical childhood, German Märchen, creative energy, (unfortunately) tragedy, and a coming of age lesson we can all glean from: life is what you make it and despite the forces telling you otherwise, it CAN be full of whimsy and creativity.
Her struggle as a young artist doing commercial work to stay afloat while attending the Art Students League in NYC NYC reminded us a lot of Dorothea Tanning’s story - finding yourself working odd jobs like ‘lamp shading’ for Wanda or serving canapes to men in suits dressed in hula skirt like Dorothea.
The grind is part of being an artist, or really most of us, in the modern world and we found Wanda’s story not only relatable but extremely relevant to our times.
As we learned more about her ethos and way of working, we found that she and Charles Burchfield, another Art Slice fav (ep 12) have SO MUCH in common: their works come from hours of observation of their subjects, beit the mundane indoors or sublime outdoors, and their results complement one another, yin and yang, if you will.
Topics include Howard, non-euclidian fun, Russell’s version of “Kiss the Girl”, dog stables, bedazzled witch boots, and grey soup.
MUSIC:
"FIRE WALK WITH ME" by Kenobit - kenobit.bandcamp.com
Magic Mind helped fuel our noggins during the making of this episode - to give your brain some choice fuel, use ARTSLICE20 for 20-48% off your order!
ᓚᘏᗢ Special thanks to the folks at the Wanda Gag House - click here to learn more ᗢᘏᓗ