The Calico Jungle was originally released in 1965. In the book that marks a milestone in the artist's career, she was feeling the urge to express herself in a new way. The illustrations marked a dramatic change in style as she began to explore "the endless possibilities of patterns. It had a terrific influence on my fine art," she says. "It inspired me to change my whole style." The Calico Jungle is a shining example of Ipcar's exploration into the juxtaposition of shapes, colors, patterns, and light that have become the hallmark of her later work.
Art Historian Carl Little points out the importance of The Calico Jungle in his new retrospective of the artist, The Art of Dahlov Ipcar. "Dahlov Ipcar's 1965 children's book The Calico Jungle led to a significant turning point in her evolution as an artist," Little said. "Her enthusiasm for patterns in her oil paintings can be traced to the illustrations in the book, which imitate fabric designs."
The book also tells a wonderful story. A mother gives her little boy a homemade quilt, but it's more than just a quilt. It's a whole world where fantastical animals run, hide, swim and frolic in a calico jungle. The boy spies calico birds pecking at fruits, sees calico elephants giving each other shower baths and discovers calico fish shining like jewels. He enters this wild landscape and travels through it, until both he and the animals eventually grow tired and fall asleep to have strange and wonderful dreams.
EXCERPT “
Once there was a little boy whose mother made him a wonderful calico quilt for his bed.
It was a beautiful quilt, all covered with jungle trees and flowers and animals.
Every night, after his mother tucked him into bed and kissed him good night, the little boy lay there in his bed, in the dim evening light, and looked at all the animals among the strange and wonderful trees.
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