Michael Sowa (born 1945) is a German artist known mainly for his paintings, which are variously whimsical, surreal, or stunning. His paintings often feature animals and are titled in English and German. His art is widely available as posters, notecards, postcards, and calendars. Sowa studied at the Berlin State School of Fine Arts for seven years and worked briefly as an art teacher before focusing entirely on his career as a painter and illustrator. A book of 50 paintings titled ''Sowa's Ark : An Enchanted Bestiary'' was published in 1996. He also illustrated ''Esterhazy, The Rabbit Prince'' by Irene Dische and Hans M. Enzensberger. He is the illustrator of '' The Little King December'' and ''A Bear Called Sunday'', both authored by Axel Hacke. He was the cover artist for several albums, including Mad Season by

Matchbox Twenty Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, ...

and two covers for

The Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...

's ''

Miaow A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones and are sometimes chattered, murmured or whispered. Adult cats rarely meow to each other, so an adult cat meowing to human beings is probably a post-domestication exten ...

'' and for their single "Everybody's Talkin'." He gained new followers for his work on the 2001 film ''

Amélie ''Amélie'' (also known as ''Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain''; ; en, The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, italic=yes) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume La ...

'' where his art on the walls comes to life. Sowa contributes illustrations to the satirical German magazine, ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'', and he also did the art work for magazine covers of several well-known periodicals, most notably the December 2, 2002 issue of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. When Sowa's children grew older he began painting in both Berlin and in the country.

References

External links

*
Online Portfolio of Michael SowaMichael Sowa at gallery "Kleine Sammler" (German)
German artists 1945 births Living people {{Germany-artist-stub