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Chris van Allsburg

Missing in Venice, 1983

Description

Maker

Title

Missing in Venice

Year

1983

Medium

Charcoal on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 63.5 x 52.1 cm (25 x 20 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed and dated graphite in margin, bottom right corner:"C. VAN ALLSBURG 1983" | Titled in graphite bottom margin, center:"Mario's Magnet / Even with the engines in reverse, the great/ ocean liner was pulled further and further into the canal." | inscribed in purple marker lower left corner:"3" | Inscribed in pencil lower right corner: "4." | Inscribed in pencil lower right corner:"3 1/4 T & S / 3 1/2 Bottom" | Inscribed in pencil bottom margin center:"2:05 / 459-3416" | Inscribed in pencil bottom right corner, aligned vertically:"Figures in Context/ 202/ 298 1010 / Carma / C. Fauntleroy / International Exhibitions Foundation / 1729 H Street N.W./ Suite 310 / Wash. D.C. 20026" | No inscriptions on verso. | Inscription in graphite on verso of mat window, lower left corner:"Fleet / 15957/ 6/28"[possibly "15497"].

Type

Credit

Gift of Bank of America Corporate Collection

Object Number

2004.43.11

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Draw Me a Story

April 14 - July 23, 2006

Chris Van Allsburg was trained in sculpture at RISD and has authored and illustrated fifteen books since graduating in 1975. Two of his most popular books, Jumanji and The Polar Express, were made into feature films. This is a final drawing for the Mysteries of Harris Burdick, 1984. The book consists of a group of seemingly unconnected pictures accompanied by evocative captions that resist linear narrative. Each viewer is meant to generate his or her own stories to accompany the drawings. In this case the caption reads “Missing in Venice. Even with her mighty engines in reverse, the ocean liner was pulled further and further into the canal.”

Van Allsburg’s rich tonal style evokes mystery and mood while at the same time exhibiting a clean simplicity of design. Together, those qualities lend his drawings an unsettling tranquility.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Missing in Venice with the accession number of 2004.43.11. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.