I am Gandhi - Page 21 - Arthur Adams

I am Gandhi was an educational and fundraising book by Brad Meltzer, all proceeds went to Seeds of Peace which I believe does leadership and humanitarian activism education and training for teens. Brad got a bunch of all stars together to each contribute a page or a double page spread to the project, including the great Arthur Adams.

I don't believe Arthur was given the additional context of where his page was on Gandhi's journey and so drew him in "Classic Gandhi" appearance. Since this was an earlier exploit, he was in his mid-40s here, and didn't have the classic look so Arthur had to revise with a paste up and also added a suit jacket on top of the luggage. In the additional photos I shone a light through the front of the art and took a picture of the back so you can see the original rendering. Arthur also included the paper with the original art for the paste ups in the sale. (in fairness to Arthur, John Cassady's page is even earlier in his life and went to print depicting classic Gandhi)

I leap at any chance to add examples from my life-long favorite artist, but I'm especially glad and grateful to have had the opportunity to purchase this as it's something outside of the norm and a bit of a rarity. I don't know that I've seen other historical or biographical drawings by Arthur. As you'd expect the art is extraordinary, I love Arthur's expressions on the figures, the background hatching and detailed rendering of the sandals, luggage and the general's uniform. There were a ton of great contributors to this project, Sienkiewicz, McNiven, Mack, Maleev, Jim Cheung, and others. I definitely recommend picking up the book if some of your favorites contributed or you have an interest in Gandhi's life, as mentioned it all goes to a good cause as well.