Zalben, Jane Breskin (b. 1950) The Budding Artist. [aka] Squares, Circles, Triangles.
Original illustration for Zalben's Mousterpiece: A Mouse-Sized Guide to Modern Art, New York: Neal Porter; Roaring Brook Press, 2012; mixed media, including watercolor, tempera, pen, with collage, on paper, signed and matted; [together with] a signed copy of the first edition; [and] a signed copy of the first edition in Chinese.
In Zalben's exploration of modern art, an inspired mouse (and museum resident) decides to create her own work based on the masterpieces that surround her. In this image, she finds inspiration in Duchamp & Sélavy's Nude Descending a Staircase, with sketches that refer to Picasso, Braque, and other Cubists tacked to the wall behind, and remnants of collage materials scattered on the floor at her feet. Mousterpiece was named on the Calling Caldecott List in the Horn Book for 2021, was featured at the Barnes Foundation, Crystal Bridges Museum, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Zalben introduced the book to teachers from the New York State Board of Education.
![Zalben, Jane Breskin (b. 1950) The Budding Artist. [aka] Squares, Circles, Triangles.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//775\794775.jpg)