Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase

'Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase' is wonderful short animation off 35 iconic art pieces melting and morphing into each other. Beautiful form of 2D clay animation (or clay painting) and wonderful music turns this short film into much more than just a collage and can definitely be appreciated even when you are not much of an art specialist. Just a beautiful movie. An art piece about art.

This short can also be used a sort of a game - how many paintings can you name?

The 1992 winner of Best Animated Short features noted paintings morphing into each other. However, there was one scene in "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase" that caught my attention in particular. At one point the sound of a commercial appears in the background. Author and political satirist Gore Vidal said of the so called War on Terrorism: "'War on terrorism' isn't a goal. It's a slogan designed for advertising, which is the only art form that the US ever created." Here we see art and advertising juxtaposed.

Anyway, this is an interesting cartoon. I don't know of anything else that Joan C. Gratz did, but if she did I would like to see it. Worth seeing.

I love comments like for people interested in art this is good, otherwise..... That's like saying for people interested in religion, the Bible is a pretty good book. Look at the mastery colors, the careful selection of pieces that can morph into others, and the skill with which it is done.

This short film won an Academy Award for best animated short. It consists of a series of animated reproductions of major art works, primarily from the 20th century, and has an unusual technique for moving from one picture to another. I have been to most of the world's major art galleries. While I am certainly not an art historian, I was able to recognize a majority of the artists and the works portrayed. I was not able to recognize all of them, and I wish they had been labeled.

I recommend this film to anyone studying art or art history for a different twist on the subject matter. The movie is available on VHS from pyramid media, and it is overpriced.

One can say that this movie is pretty as picture. 'Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase' is wonderful short animation off 35 iconic art pieces melting and morphing into each other. Beautiful form of 2D clay animation (or clay painting) and wonderful music turns this short film into much more than just a collage and can definitely be appreciated even when you are not much of an art specialist. Just a beautiful movie. An art piece about art.

This short can also be used a sort of a game - how many paintings can you name?