Entering a painting (query)

The only book I can think of with a character entering a painting is by a Dutch author and AFAIK has never been translated.
I suppose entering a TV-show doesn't count? I was thinking Pleasantville.
 
Elckerlyc said:
The only book I can think of with a character entering a painting is by a Dutch author and AFAIK has never been translated.
I suppose entering a TV-show doesn't count? I was thinking Pleasantville.
Click to expand...
TV show, movie, book, those are all related. Sherlock Jr. comes to mind.

Please do tell me about the Dutch book. Has it been translated into French, by any chance?
 
I can't find any signs or reference that it has been translated. I think it never was. Yes, it has, just found out.
The book - of which the title translates as Eric, or the Book of Insects - was written in 1940 by Godfried Bomans (1913-1971). It is basically a book for kids, but his style and humor of writing makes it an enjoyable read for all. Bomans is my great example.

I just found a Wikipedia page about Bomans and this book. It turns out it has been translated in English after all.
Erik or the small book of insects
 
Another one has just popped into my memory, however it's a long time since I read it so I'm maybe misremembering..

Rose Madder by Stephen King, iirc she can move in and out of some old painting and this helps her escape her abusive ex
 
Elckerlyc said:
I can't find any signs or reference that it has been translated. I think it never was. Yes, it has, just found out.
The book - of which the title translates as Eric, or the Book of Insects - was written in 1940 by Godfried Bomans (1913-1971). It is basically a book for kids, but his style and humor of writing makes it an enjoyable read for all. Bomans is my great example.

I just found a Wikipedia page about Bomans and this book. It turns out it has been translated in English after all.
Erik or the small book of insects
Click to expand...
Just ordered a cheap copy.
 
There's an iconic scene in one of the four volumes of Gene Wolfe's Book Of The New Sun where Severian walks into a painting, which turns out not to be a painting.
There are a few of visual equivalents by the way - Buster Keaton did it in the 1920s with projected film, as did the Goodies 50 years later. And Woody Allen of course in The Purple Rose Of Cairo.
 
Is Sherlock Jr. the same film as Young Sherlock Holmes? There's a scene in that involving a stained glass window, but the other way around:

 
Toby Frost said:
Is Sherlock Jr. the same film as Young Sherlock Holmes? There's a scene in that involving a stained glass window, but the other way around:

Click to expand...
No, it's a 1924 movie by Buster Keaton. The chase scene has to be seen to be believed:
 
In Pratchett's The Wee Free Men, Tiffany Aching, in her dream, enters this painting:
Dadd_-_Fairy_Feller's.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm sorry, I'm a bit late to this party. I was going to say The Illustrated Man and I read down and down and yes, eventually it was mentioned:
M. Robert Gibson said:
and then there is The Illustrated Man itself:
Click to expand...

These are not quite what you are asking for, but in the interest of completeness on this subject, then Girl with a Pearl Earring, both book and film, are written about the Dutch oil painting by Johannes Vermeer. And then there is The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. Maybe also the Tom Cruise film, Vanilla Sky, remake of the Spanish film Open Your Eyes (Abre los ojos), which refers to the sky as painted by Claude Monet, specifically as in The Seine at Argenteuil (1873), and also refers to the gatefold artwork of the Bob Dylan album, The Free Wheelin'.

tegeus-Cromis said:
it's a 1924 movie by Buster Keaton. The chase scene has to be seen to be believed:
Click to expand...
That idea of breaking the fourth wall was copied, of course, on a much grander scale by Mel Brooks in the final scenes of Blazing Saddles, with cowboys escaping from the film screen and rampaging through the studio lot. Although Oliver Hardy, Groucho Marx, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker also frequently break the fourth wall, and the earliest example in film is meant to be the 1918 silent film Men Who Have Made Love to Me.
 
Dave said:
That idea of breaking the fourth wall was copied, of course, on a much grander scale by Mel Brooks in the final scenes of Blazing Saddles, with cowboys escaping from the film screen and rampaging through the studio lot. Although Oliver Hardy, Groucho Marx, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker also frequently break the fourth wall, and the earliest example in film is meant to be the 1918 silent film Men Who Have Made Love to Me.
Click to expand...
I am interested also in the idea of breaking the fourth wall, but that's not exactly what I was asking about here. I was asking about stories about people (magically, or in their dreams) entering works of art. So it's not so much about the connection between us, the reader/viewer and the artwork (except implicitly) but between a character IN the story and an artwork also inside the story. So these stories would not break the fourth wall, which is why they're fantasy. Groucho turning to us to make a wry comment is not fantasy, just an acknowledgement of the artifice of the movie (artifice that is usually not acknowledged, because it shatters the suspension of disbelief).
 
Episode of Road Runner Vs Coyote.

A solid rock face - Wile E paints a road tunnel on it so the Road Runner will slam into the rock.
As soon as he steps back a big truck emerges and runs him down
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
Ian Fortytwo (Found) A tv series or film about entering dreams TV Series Search 16
Bramandin Entering my bedroom. Critiques 9
tegeus-Cromis Fantasy stories about entering a book or a movie? Book Discussion 66
Phyrebrat What's your motivation for entering or not entering? Writing Challenges 79
Jo Zebedee Falling Numbers -- Fewer Members Entering the Challenge Writing Challenges 154

Similar threads


Back
Top