Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts
by Chip Kidd, Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center
On This Page
Description
"Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) believed that the key to cartooning was to take out the extraneous details and leave in "only what's necessary." For fifty years, from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, Schulz wrote and illustrated Peanuts, the single most popular and influential comic strip in the world. In all, 17,897 strips were published, making it "arguably the longest story ever told by one human being," according to Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse show more University. For Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts, renowned designer Chip Kidd was granted unprecedented access to the extraordinary archives of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California. Reproducing the best of the Peanuts newspaper strip, all shot from the original art by award-winning photographer Geoff Spear, Only What's Necessary also features exclusive, rare, and unpublished original art and developmental work--much of which has never been seen before"-- show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
What a perfectly lovely book to page through on a cold, sunny afternoon! This oversized collection is a must-see/ must-read for Peanuts fans. It's just gorgeous.
Chipp Kidd and co. used photographs taken of Schultz's work at the Charles M. Schultz museum in Santa Rosa, California to assemble a visual timeline of his artistic career. The strips they chose and the accompanying photos and text all came together to create a moving portrait of a man doing what he loved and leaving an unforgettable mark on the world. There's a quote at the end of the book from Schultz:
Well, I've certainly gotten a lot of joy from Peanuts, and I learned several new things about show more Charles M. Schultz from this book.
I advise getting your hands on a copy, finding something to prop it on, and losing yourself in it until you're finished. show less
Chipp Kidd and co. used photographs taken of Schultz's work at the Charles M. Schultz museum in Santa Rosa, California to assemble a visual timeline of his artistic career. The strips they chose and the accompanying photos and text all came together to create a moving portrait of a man doing what he loved and leaving an unforgettable mark on the world. There's a quote at the end of the book from Schultz:
I would be satisfied if they wrote on my tombstone, "He made people happy."
Well, I've certainly gotten a lot of joy from Peanuts, and I learned several new things about show more Charles M. Schultz from this book.
I advise getting your hands on a copy, finding something to prop it on, and losing yourself in it until you're finished. show less
A beautiful, coffee table book created by Chip Kidd. Kidd was given access to the archives of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California. Here, he has reproduced the original artwork for comic strips along with other Schulz memorabilia. Together with a few essays about Schulz's career, the artwork provides a beautiful overview of Schulz's career.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
30+ Works 4,650 Members
Chip Kidd has designed book jackets for Alfred A. Knopf for over a decade. His work has been featured in "Vanity Fair", "Print", "Entertainment Weekly", "The New Republic", "Time", "The New York Times", "Graphis", "New York", and "ID" magazine. He lives in New York City. (Publisher Provided) Chip Kidd was born in 1964. He is an author, editor and show more graphic designer. He has become known for his book covers. He is the associate art director at Knopf, an imprint of Random House. He first joined the Knopf design team in 1986, when he was hired as a junior assistant. Turning out jacket designs at an average of 75 a year. Kidd also supervises graphic novels at Pantheon, and in 2003 he collaborated with Art Spiegelman on a biography of cartoonist Jack Cole, Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits. His design for Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel was carried over into marketing for the film adaptation. Oliver Sacks and other authors have contract clauses stating that Kidd design their books. Publishers Weekly described his book jackets as "creepy, striking, sly, smart, unpredictable covers that make readers appreciate books as objects of art as well as literature." USA Today also called him "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today, while author James Ellroy has called him the world's greatest book-jacket designer. Kidd is as a fan of comic book media, particularly Batman, and has written and designed book covers for several DC Comics publications, including The Complete History of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, The Golden Age of DC Comics: 365 Days, and Jack Cole and Plastic Man. He also designed Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross and wrote an exclusive Batman/Superman story illustrated by Ross for the book. In 2014 his title, Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design, made The New York Times Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
3 Works 188 Members
All Editions
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts
- Original publication date
- 2015
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Graphic Novels & Comics, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 741.5 — Arts & recreation Drawing & decorative arts Drawing Comic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic strips
- LCC
- NC1764.5 .U62 .S3835 — Fine Arts Drawing. Design. Illustration Drawing. Design. Illustration Pictorial humor, caricature, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 166
- Popularity
- 197,193
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.64)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 1
