Mother Goose Visual Challenges

A Mother Goose Puzzle: About Rhymes & Reasons

The joy of this painting is not only in the appreciation of the art itself but also in that it forces the viewer to focus in and look closely at the various components of the larger image. Rhymes & Reasons began as a fine art triptych which is a puzzle within a puzzle. Seventy three Mother Goose rhymes are included in this work of art, challenging viewers to locate and identify them. The puzzle within the puzzle is that seventy two of those rhymes are identified in the visual key accompanying the print, leaving the viewer to find the final rhyme. A book entitled Rhymes & Reasons: An Annotated Mother Goose Based on the Painting Rhymes & Reasons by James Christensen was published by The Greenwich Workshop in 1990 contains that key, along with Christensen’s notes on his research into the origins and histories of the original 72 rhymes. In 1997 Greenwich published James Christensen’s Rhymes & Reasons: An Annotated Collection of Mother Goose Rhymes, a larger, more colorful version of the book published with the triptych print. It was in this later version of the book that the 73 rd rhyme was mentioned and viewers challenged to discover it. Of course, the answer is also found in this volume.

The image recorded above is the right side panel from the triptych. The visual key to the rhymes pictured in this panel is also available for viewers to check their visual acuity in identifying the various rhymes. Links connect to rhymes already included in ECLIPSE, and brief comments are available for rhymes not previously discussed here.