New Picture Book about an Unusual Chandelier Is Based on Real Artwork at the Getty

Book for children ages 7–10 is inspired by an 18th-century gilded chandelier in the Getty Museum collection

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Jan 17, 2012

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A different kind of adventure story, The Goldfish in the Chandelier (Getty Publications, 2011, $17.95, hardcover) takes place just outside of Paris in the early 1800s.

Uncle Henri is stuck. He has been commissioned to design a chandelier for a great house in Paris, but he can’t figure out what form it will take. His young nephew, Louis Alexandre, comes to the rescue with some dazzling ideas—inspired by Alexander the Great and the first hot-air balloon flights over Paris—that surprise them both. Together, they use a lot of imagination to create something that never existed before—something new, unexpected, and very beautiful.

This delightful story was inspired by the Gérard-Jean Galle chandelier, one of the most popular pieces in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s impressive collection of French decorative arts. An information page about the chandelier is included in the back of the book. For children ages 7–10.

About Casie Kesterson

Formerly on staff at the Getty Research Institute, author Casie Kesterson currently is a consultant specializing in matters relating to the history of collecting art.

About Gary Hovland

Illustrator Gary Hovland’s illustrations have appeared in such nationally and internationally known publications as the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. His illustrations for If the Walls Could Talk: Family Life at the White House (Simon & Schuster, 2004) won a Toy Portfolio Platinum Book Award in 2005.

Publication Information

The Goldfish in the Chandelier
Written by Casie Kesterson
Illustrations by Gary Hovland
J. Paul Getty Museum
32 pages, 7 ½ x 11 ¾ inches, hardcover 24 color illustrations
ISBN 978-1-60606-094-0
$17.95 (UK £12.95)

Publication Date: March 6, 2012

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