A. G. Rizzoli: Architect of Magnificent Visions

To the outside world, Achilles Rizzoli (1896-1981) was merely an obscure draftsman in a San Francisco architectural firm, a life-long bachelor who lived with his mother. But in his off hours he was the ""Master Architect"" and ""High Prince"" of the incredible alternative world he was secretly creating. In 1990, his fantasies came to light when hundreds of his meticulous pen-and-ink drawings of imaginary cathedrals, towers, temples and palaces, were discovered in a nephew's garage. There is something of Lewis Carroll in Rizzoli's schemes, like the gallery in his house for his ""Achilles Tectonic Exhibit"" (aka ATE) or the YTTE (Yield To Total Elation) series of drawings for a symbolic world exposition in which many of the buildings were architectural representations of relatives or friends (e.g., a neighbor girl, Shirley Jean Bersie, was symbolically sketched as ""Shirley's Temple"" in thanks for her ""kindly interest"" in the ATE). This sumptuous volume, lavishly illustrated with 94 color and black-and-white images, accompanies a traveling exhibition. Hernandez, curator of the exhibition, surveys the artist's life and analyzes the drawings; Beardsley (Gardens of Revelation: Environments by Visionary Artists), places Rizzoli's output in the tradition of neoclassical architecture; and Cardinal, professor of literary and visual studies at the University of Kent, examines the relationship between drawings and the cryptic commentaries, replete with personal symbolism, that accompany them. Their perceptive essays offer a tantalizing introduction to Rizzoli's extraordinary visions. (May) FYI: The exhibition begins March 22 at the San Diego Museum of Art before heading to Atlanta's High Museum, New York's Museum of Folk Art and San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.