Fantasy Worlds (English, German and French Edition) [Hardcover]

John Maizels (Author), Deidi von Schaewen (Author, Photographer), Angelika Taschen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

One day, Ferdinand Cheval, a French postman, came across a stone at Hauterives near Lyon, and was fascinated by its strange, evocative shape. He spent the next three decades collecting stones, shells, and fossils, and used them to build the Palais ideal. Cheval's palace is one of many works of architectural fantasy in this book, the result of over 20 years' research by celebrated architectural photographer Deidi von Schaewen. Like Cheval, the creators of these extraordinary worlds simply started building, with no rules to guide them and, in most cases, no previous artistic experience. These fantasy palaces, bizarre sanctuaries, and colorful sculpture gardens seldom follow a plan. Often the artists continued building for many years, sometimes until their dying day. Their work is impossible to categorise: Art brut, architecture with-out architects, self-taught art, fantasy architecture in the tradition of Piranesi, non-academic architecture, Outsider Art - none of these definitions quite encapsulates this worldwide phenomenon. Eccentric hideaways like the Tour de l'Apocalypse in Belgium, the Junkerhaus at Lemgo or the Owl House in South Africa appear alongside Simon Rodia's Watts Towers, which dominate the cityscape of Los Angeles. To venture into this world is to immerse oneself in the collective unconscious. The addresses of sites open to the public are listed in the appendix.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Deidi von Schaewen studied painting and photography at the School of Applied Arts in Berlin and spent 20 years in Paris. She has worked internationally as a photographer, producing books and exhibiting in Paris, New York and Barcelona. Her books for TASCHEN include Indian Interiors and Gardens in France. John Maizels studied Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art in London. He is an expert on Outsider Art, and in 1989 founded Raw Vision, an international journal of Outsider Art. He has written numerous articles on the subject and is the author of Raw Creation: Outsider Art and Beyond. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: Taschen (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English, German, French
• ISBN-10: 3822871907
• ISBN-13: 978-3822871904
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,348,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous photos of far-out 'architecture', January 7, 2000

By 

GRACE RICKARD (Borrego Springs, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fantasy Worlds (English, German and French Edition) (Hardcover)

Fantasy Worlds is worth at least twice its price. It is a showy, large-format hard-cover "coffee table" art photography book worthy of purchase for yourself or as a gift.

Its 340 pages are crammed with full-page photos of bright and saucy gems of personal architecture. The subject matter consists of the creations of untrained visionaries who are obsessed with the desire to decorate and embellish their dwellings.

The book features 73 environmental creations -- 37 in Europe, 27 in America and 9 in Asia and Africa. The works vary from famous sites such as the Watts Towers in Los Angeles, the Gaudi creations in Barcelona and the Tiger Balm Gardens in Hong Kong to largely unknown jewels such as Salvation Mountain near Niland in the Salton Sea area of California.

The text is in English, French and German.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Taschen 25 edition is 100 pages shorter than 1999 edition, August 28, 2010

By 

A. Consumer (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fantasy Worlds (French Edition) (Hardcover)

I borrowed the 1999 edition of this book from the library and absolutely loved all 340+ pages of it. I was extremely disappointed to discover that this book is 100 pages shorter. There are fewer sites covered, and the sites that are covered are shown in less detail. I suppose if I had never seen the original book, I might think this book was adequate. Save your money and get a copy of the original edition. And beware of Taschen 25 editions -- I also bought a copy Modernism Rediscovered, only to discover that it is 160 pages shorter than the original. How would anyone know this, when the books have the same titles, authors and publisher as the original editions -- just a lot fewer pages.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Photographed., April 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fantasy Worlds (English, German and French Edition) (Hardcover)

Beautifully photographed and well documented book of unusual structures. Got me hooked on the topic of "outsider constructions". Thanks for the inspiration.