G: He’s not well that a woman read. Strange ideas come into her mind, and she begins to think. B: Gaston you’re definitely primordial! G: Thanks, Belle!
At that very moment Belle became my heroine and Beauty and the Beast my favorite cartoon. I was only six when I realized that I didn’t like Gaston, there was something unpleasant about him. When comes to mind Beauty and the Beast, our memory almost always coincides with the story of the Disney animated film of the ’90s but its origins are much more remote. The story is in fact not completely true to the original. The story has its roots in the most popular fairy tale attributed to Madame Villeneuve, but only the smaller version published in 1756 by the aristocratic Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont is considered the most characteristic thanks to the sober and free of unnecessary details style.
The classics are destined for an eternal return, always suitable to the time that is yet to come and never out of place. Space and time have no power when we talk about old stories that continue to delight.
That’s why they often come back with a new look: the picture book magically illustrated by David Sala tells the original story by the noble de Beaumont. Is not only a beautiful love-story to come back but also the magical art of Gustav Klimt. When you’ll lay eyes on the Sala’ boards you can immediately recognize the feminine universe of Klimt, the rich atmospheres of those motifs that have made him immortal. What I propose today is a walk down the memory lane: a children fairy tale, a book for adults, definitely to share because:
we have to be able to become kids again to learn to be adult
Reading time: a magical night
Ph. Sara Cartelli © The Eat Culture
