Leo Lionni

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Leo Lionni (born May 5, 1910 in Amsterdam , † October 11, 1999 in Radda in Chianti ) was an American graphic artist , painter and writer who lived in Italy for many years.

Life

Leo Lionni was born in Amsterdam as the son of a Jewish diamond cutter and a singer. As a boy he was enthusiastic about painting and at the age of 10 he was already copying the old masters in museums. In 1922, his parents moved with him to the USA and then moved to various other countries, so that by the age of 14 he already spoke five languages.

In 1925 she came to Italy where Leo on his father's request in Genoa economy studied and in 1935 with a thesis on the diamond trade doctorate . During his studies he was already active as a graphic artist and painter and joined the art movement of Futurism . In 1939 Lionni emigrated to the United States and worked as artistic director for various magazines , where his "Italian style" caused a sensation. In 1945 he became an American citizen.

In 1962 Lionni returned to Italy, although he was doing very well as an art director at Fortune Magazine in New York , and has worked as a freelance artist ever since. In 1959, his first children's book, Little Blue and little yellow, was published .

In the last few years before his death, Lionni , who had Parkinson's disease, lived mainly in his house in Tuscany and in his apartment in New York. He died at the age of 89.

Awards

Works (in selection)

  • The little blue and the little yellow (Original: Little Blue and little yellow ), 1962
  • Piece by piece (Original: Inch by Inch ), 1962
  • Swimmy (picture book), 1963 (German 1964)
  • Frederick (picture book), 1967 (German 1967)
  • The biggest house in the world (Original: The biggest house of the world ), 1969
  • Alexander and the wind-up mouse (Original: Alexander and the wind-up mouse ), 1971
  • Fish is fish (Original: Fish is fish ), 1972
  • Theodore and the speaking mushroom, 1973
  • The Mouse with the Green Tail, 1974
  • His own color (Original: A color of his own ), 1975
  • There are no stones on the beach, 1975
  • In the rabbit garden (Original: In the rabbitgarden ), 1976
  • Pezzettino, 1977
  • Parallel botany (Original: Botanica parallela ), 1978
  • Geraldine and the mouse flute (Original: Geraldine, the music mouse ), 1980
  • Strictly prohibited for cats, 1981
  • Who makes the flowers colorful ?, 1981
  • What shall we do today? (Original: Let's make rabbits ), 1982
  • Cornelius (Original: Cornelius ), 1983
  • Nicolas, where have you been ?, 1987
  • Tillie and the Wall, 1989
  • Matthias and his dream, 1991
  • The letter tree, 1992
  • A good year, 1992
  • Mister McMaus (Original: Mr. McMouse ), 1993
  • An extraordinary egg (Original: An extraordinary egg ), 1994
  • That belongs to me! (Original: It's Mine! ), 1996
  • Between times and worlds. Autobiography (Original: Between worlds ), 1998

literature

  • Gertrud Bünning: Reading motivation - but how? For the practice of teaching books and reading in early grades. Düsseldorf: Schwann 1981. ISBN 3-590-14582-X .
  • Leo Lionni: sculptures, oil paintings, drawings, prints. Exhibition from February 8 to April 20, 1974, ed. v. the Baukunst-Architekturgesellschaft "Köln". Cologne 1974.
  • Leo Lionni at the Library of Congress. An International Children's Book Day lecture presented on May 12, 1988, ed. v. Sybille A. Jagusch. Washington, DC: Library of Congress 1993. ISBN 0-8444-0723-2 .
  • Felix Hornstein: "Fish is fish", in: ders., "Literary ridge walks. Man in search of God", Aachen: Patrimonium 2020, ISBN 978-3-86417-136-9 , pp. 85-113.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lionni, Leo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American graphic artist, painter and writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 1999
Place of death Radda in Chianti , Italy