The artist likes to evoke emotions and moods that are associated with childhood. Two pencil drawings from 1988, from the series Kinderzeichnungen (translated as ‘children’s drawings’), directly relate to this period of life. They betray the introverted, dreamy character characteristic of Rondinone while remaining rich in playful references to the history of painting. In one work, the motif of a painter turning his head away from his easel towards the audience alludes to Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez. In the second drawing, narratives have been appropriated and isolated from genre scenes of European painting of the era of Romanticism. One of Ugo Rondinone’s favourite motifs was the monumental shield with its shimmering, concentric circles, which the artist painted in rainbow-like colours. Using optical illusion, he achieved truly hypnotic effects in these absolutely flat, circular paintings.