From that day, little by little, I gave my golden feathers away
In The Central Gallery
Birds of a Feather: The Art of Eric Carle and Leo Lionni
May 11 - December 9, 2007
When Eric Carle returned to America in 1952, a meeting with Leo Lionni resulted in a friendship and a job lead. The rest, as they say, is history. Neither Eric Carle nor Leo Lionni ever imagined they later would create some of the most memorable picture books of our time. The similarities between these two artists are quite striking: their pictures are filled with animals and nature; they drew inspiration from their childhood experiences; and their early careers in graphic design can be seen in their bold simplicity and elegant sense of design.
Illustration from The Spiderwick Chronicles: Book 2, The Seeing Stone
In The West Gallery
Spiderwick: From Page to Screen
September 22, 2007 - January 27, 2008
Spiderwick: From Page to Screen explores the art of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black’s The Spiderwick Chronicles, and follows the story’s wondrous translation to the big screen. The exhibition, inspired by Museum Director Nick Clark’s sneak peek at early plans for The Spiderwick Chronicles movie (coming February 15, 2008), combines DiTerlizzi’s imaginative and masterful renderings of the natural and unnatural world with the film production team’s extraordinary interpretation of that creative vision.
The exhibition Spiderwick: From Page to Screen has been generously underwritten by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, and by a grant from Triad Foundation, Inc. Additional support has been provided by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
The Spiderwick Chronicles movie logo used here with permission.
Copyright © 2007 Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.
Illustration from Betty Lou Blue written by Nancy Crocker.
In The East Gallery
Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art
November 15, 2007 - March 9, 2008
Presenting a comprehensive survey of the best American picture book art of the last decade, Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art opens with a rare grouping of illustrations chosen from some of the most significant works of the last half-century by artists such as Maurice Sendak, Dr. Seuss, and Ezra Jack Keats. The core of the exhibition consists of artworks dating from 1997 to 2007 and is grouped by the following sub-themes with the aim of highlighting American picture book artists’ interpretations of six of childhood’s formative stages and experiences: The New Child, The Child and Family, The Child at School and at Play, The Child in the Community, The Child in History, The Questioning Child, and The New Picture Book.
Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art has been co-organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts and the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, New York, and has been made possible by a generous grant from Helen and Peter Bing. Additional funding for the exhibition has been provided by the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the New York Council for the Humanities or National Endowment for the Humanities.
Click here to view a list of the artists featured in the Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art exhibition.
In The Central Gallery
Toot and Re-Toot: The Return of Hardie Gramatky's Little Toot
December 21, 2007 - May 4, 2008
A perennial favorite, Hardie Gramatky’s Little Toot has sold over six million copies, and has never been out of print. Gramatky’s hero, an exuberant little tugboat, proves his courage when he saves a shipwrecked ocean liner during a terrible storm.
Gramatky, who began his career at Walt Disney’s studio during the Great Depression, brought something entirely new to the art of the picture book: an animator’s pacing and flair for comic action. Also a master watercolorist, Gramatky’s breezy technique endowed Little Toot’s pages with special brightness. Recently reprinted with restored colors and the original endpapers on the centenary of Gramatky’s birth, Little Toot continues to charm and enchant its audience.
In this exhibition, never-before seen sketches from Gramatky’s Disney days and from his unpublished notebooks provide in-depth view of the genesis of a classic.
This exhibition has been made possible in part by a gift from Matthew and Ellen Lougee Simmons and by the guidance and encouragement of Kendall and Linda Gramatky Smith.