Lot 124: Leo Lionni (Dutch, 1910-1999) Imaginary Garden 29 1/4 x 77 3/8in x 48 5/8in (74.3 x 196.5 x 123.5cm)

Imaginary Garden
bronze with reddish brown patina
29 1/4 x 77 3/8in x 48 5/8in (74.3 x 196.5 x 123.5cm)

PROVENANCE:
Collection of the artist
Private Collection (acquired directly from the above)
Collection of The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fresno, California (gift from the above, acquired in 2006)

Leo Lionni is a renowned painter, sculptor, critic, graphic designer and children's book author/illustrator. Born in Holland, he taught himself to draw at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In1925 he moved to Italy and was heavily influenced by Futurism. The founder of the movement, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, supported Lionni and helped him exhibit throughout Italy.

After marrying and starting a family, Lionni settled in Milan where he wrote architectural criticism for Casabella magazine and designed ads for Domus magazine. But in 1939, as Fascism spread, Lionni immigrated to the United States.

Lionni settled in Philadelphia to work at N.W. Ayer advertising agency. After landing the multimillion-dollar Ford Motors account, more opportunities followed and Lionni hired artists such as Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Willem de Kooning and others to design ads for various magazines. He also continued to exhibit his own work internationally.

In 1948, Lionni left advertising to study and paint in New York, but he immediately became the art director of Fortune Magazine instead. While working for Time/Life, Lionni also had private clients including the Museum of Modern Art, for whom he designed the famous Family of Man catalog.

A self-proclaimed 'practitioner of all arts,' Lionni started writing children's books in the 1950s. Prior to his death in 1999, he wrote and illustrated more than 40 classic children's books and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner.