Wunderkind

I don't know when I first became aware of the work of Arcimboldo because he seems so intrinsic to my own way of thinking about pattern. I was, however, surprised to learn that he had lived and painted in the 16th century! How could an artist of the Renaissance period dare to do the bizarre work that he presented to the courts of kings? Was Arcimboldo a court jester of a sort? Did he humour King Ferdinand I of the Hapsburg court, Maximilian II of the Viennese court or later, Rudolph II at the court of Prague with his impossible compilations? Is this not modern art?

Though my self-portrait contains a woven fabric-like representation of flesh and hair unlike the Arcimboldo web of realistic objects, the influence of the master of double-meaning remains clear and obvious to me. The Surrealist Salvador Dali is credited for bringing Arcimboldo to the attention of the present art world, and since that time, many of us today have adopted a version of his style.

See the following YouTube links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfHj0L8fLVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdfCOCIv_DU