Sowa's Ark: An Enchanted Bestiary

by Michael Sowa and Elisabeth Brami

Book Overview

Chronicle is proud to publish the exciting paintings of widely acclaimed German artist Michael Sowa. A miniature pig splashing in a bowl of soup; a duck leading a wheelbarrow down a country lane; a woman gently stroking her daughter's face with a rabbit: take a trip into Sowa's brilliant and darkly comic imagination, where a menagerie of creatures adopt strange personae and pop up in the most unexpected places. In the same realm as Chris Van Allsburg...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811814157
• ISBN13: 9780811814157
• Release Date: August 1996
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 1.0" x 1.0"

Customer Reviews

Fun book

I had expected it to be more like Nick Bantock's books where there is writing/a story with it. There isn't. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the illustrations. I won't be keeping this book, but gave it to my sister who is an artist. She appreciates it more than me!

A fabulous artist!

What can one say about Michael Sowa? His painting is superb nad his sense of humor and fun is also "to die for." He is a master, and I just love him......If you ever see his greeting cards for sale, you'll know what I mean. But to have the paintings in a book is even better.

Wildly amusing imagery

Michael Sowa's book was introduced to me as a must to read after someone saw my own work, and I would say the same to you if you are thinking of buying this book. If you like funny, amuzing and often surreal imagery then you'll love Sowas work. Some of the pictures are quite profound and make you think beyond what you see. They have a dream like quality in many cases. Some pleasant and others ... well... it's hard to describe...... best discover for yourself...

Funny and Charming

I saw one of Michael Sowa's postcards in a small stationery store in Boston, and I have been in love since. His posters are difficult to find in the United States, so I asked for this book for Christmas. It is perfect for people who love personified animals, as in the Far Side. It is absolutely hysterical.

Pure pleasure...

Like some kind of low brow Mark Tansey, Sowa creates images that truly stop you in your cerebral tracks with their weight and mystery. And he does this while being damn funny. The tragic and sometimes amusing conflicts between the human world and the natural world have never been so well shown. A coffee table art book I actually pick up and look at, it's far more relevant than it seems at first glance. Buy it now and give it to someone you would like to see with a smile on their face.

A Modern Mythology both strange and lasting

Sowa has slowly taken over my heart. Everytime I saw a postcard with one of his images on it I snapped it up but never sent it. Now, in this book I can relish him with each page. His images are both beautiful and funny but most of all they touch something deep inside via the animals he uses and the dark foreboding architecture of nature and man. The back of a cat bristles with emotion and we aren't talking cutesy-pie kitties. These animals of Sowa's have souls and yearnings. They are trapped and share the dark planet with us and reflect it, perhaps, more honestly than the humans. Whether joy via diving pigs or sheer runs for life via a Christmas goose sprinting away, Sowa has touched something new and tipped his hat to the masters too. He is divine. Discover him and then buy a copy for every friend you know. Great!