Modern Bestiary, Domenico Gnoli
Domenico Gnoli was born in Rome in 1933, and displayed artistic talent at a precociously young age. He spent some time studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in his home town, but never completed the course and decided to travel the world instead.
Gnoli ended up in London, where he soon established a reputation as a theatrical set designer. By the mid 1950s he was in New York, where he worked as an illustrator for magazines.
These magical images are from a set he created in 1968, entitled Bestiario Moderno (Modern Bestiary), or Cos’è un mostro (What is a monster). They are beautifully drawn, and hauntingly surreal.
I think the flat fish in the bath is my favourite. It’s a little bit sad, and very, very strange.
Gnoli sadly died in New York, aged just thirty six years old, soon after opening a show of his paintings at a major gallery in the city. He left behind only a few completed works. But these weird, wonderful drawings are certain quite a magical legacy, don’t you think?
My search for magic 
April 3, 2014 at 6:14 pm
Amazing pieces! Gnoli is not an artist I am familiar with. I will endeavour to look into him (in every sense). Thank you.
April 3, 2014 at 6:18 pm
Yes I agree he seems rather forgotten, maybe because not much of his work survives. Glad you enjoyed it.
April 3, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Passed this one on to my cartoonist girlfriend to enjoy!
April 4, 2014 at 8:47 am
Yes, this is definitely one for all the cartoonists out there – I hope she likes them!
April 4, 2014 at 11:33 am
She definitely “oohed” the art!
April 4, 2014 at 8:01 am
Quite a remarkable talent there and I too had never heard of him before – thank you for bringing him to us. I have huge respect for anyone working in that medium and these are wonderful.
April 4, 2014 at 8:48 am
A pleasure. Apparently they were originally published in a book, which is now unfortunately out of print.
April 5, 2014 at 6:24 am
Fascinating, really like these. My favourite is the creature peeking out from the wardrobe.
April 5, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Glad you like them, they are definitely very magical. Its a shame the artist is rather forgotten, but finding these has inspired me to find out more…
April 19, 2014 at 7:58 pm
Amazing post! Gnoli’s talent is enormous and it is absolutely an artist that needs to be rediscovered! Thanks for this post!
April 20, 2014 at 10:59 am
Yes I thought you would this one – another Italian artist that deserves more attention outside Italy.