Swedish illustrator Ingela P. Arrhenius painted portraits of 142 German actors inspired by a 1933 talent catalogue that “found it’s way” onto her bookshelf. She’s not sure how the book got there but says something about their “beautiful poses and dream-like gazes” attracted her so much that she attempted to capture that same spirit in her work. Mostly very flat paintings using line and solid blocks of color, these portraits are really amazing all together. She’s had a show where they were all lined up in rows and rows. The palettes of the paintings reflect one another. Face after face is very striking imagery. As a book, it becomes less about the paintings as a collection. She paired a male and female on every page and some pairings seem to create a better dialogue than others. Individually I definitely favor some paintings over others but all in all I love how this project turned out and wish I could have seen the show in person. Check out more from Ingela here and find out how to get a book here.

© Julia Rothman 2007