Gosh, I really love the Art & Fable puzzles — and I loved this 1913 image, “Carnival Train” (also frequently listed as “Carnival Parade”), by Carl Strathmann (1866-1939). (canvas, 105 cm x 171.5 cm, Municipal Gallery in Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich, https://sammlungonline.lenbachhaus.de/objekt/karnevalszug-maskentre-iben-300007267.html (this link from the puzzle description does not work, but more info here: https://www.lenbachhaus.de/digital/sammlung-online/person/strathmann-carl-8042) You can see that our feline clown, Zeniba, also loved it. There’s a certain monstrosity to it, but they’re just in costume. The patterns were fabulous. The border came together surprisingly quickly, and chunks of the rest too — although it wasn’t completely easy, by any means. A very satisfying puzzle!
The Wikipedia article about Strathmann is distressingly brief. Art & Fable says this:
Carl Strathmann (1866-1939) was an Art Nouveau painter from Munich, Germany. Strathmann’s work is reliant on an ornate style and meticulous attention to detail that is applied to fairy-tale caricature figures, creating beautifully intricate designs bordering on the fantastical. Strathmann’s oeuvre overflows with creativity and imagination, each painting is a lovingly crafted world and ranges from floral still lifes to fairy-tale scenes. “Carnival Parade” is full of the artist’s bizarre imagery, unique personality, and symbolism, which had earned the German painter great admirers of his art from around the world. Several major works previously thought to have been lost or destroyed, are now preserved in Munich museums.
- Points for the phrase “ouevre overflows”, but points deducted for the comma splice.
Also, “Donations from the sale of this puzzle” (? what donations? the profits? not clear) “will go to The Mockingbird Society (mockingbirdsociety.org), who through advocacy and innovation work to transform foster care and end youth homelessness.”
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