Blue Rider

On a gray and crowded city sidewalk, a child discovers a book. That evening, the child begins to read and is immediately carried beyond the repetitive sameness of an urban skyscape into an untamed natural landscape. The child experiences a moment of true joy, and as if in response to that single blissful moment, people seem to come alive in all the other rooms of the apartment block. Thanks to the power of one book, an entire society is transformed.

In creating this book, Geraldo Valerio was inspired by the German Expressionist group known as Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), which formed in Munich in 1911 and included painters Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky. These artists sought to find the spiritual significance in art, with an emphasis on form and color. In turn, Valerio has created a wordless book that speaks volumes about how art can transform us beyond the sometimes-dreary world of the everyday.