Organized by National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature (Abilene, TX). Sponsored by Cynthia Epstein and David Wiesman.
Most everyone has fallen under the
magnetic spell of the American illustrator
Garth Williams (1912-1996) at one time or
another: as childhood readers, as parents or
grandparents, or as professionals concerned
with young people and their books.
Charlotte’s Web? Little House on the Prairie?
Bedtime for Frances? The Cricket in Times
Square? Williams, who was born in New York
City and raised in London, illustrated them
all—and dozens more children’s classics in a
career that spanned nearly fifty years and
brought a new level of virtuosity and
fun to American children’s books and
their illustration.
What's pictured: “Baby swans are called cygnets. Baby goose is called a gosling.” for Baby Farm Animals, 1953, gouache and watercolor on paper, © Garth Williams
Garth Williams: Illustrator of the Century
is the largest retrospective of the artist’s
work ever assembled. In addition to
presenting original work for twenty-eight
of his most beloved books, the exhibition
also explores such lesser-known facets of
the artist’s career as Williams’ journeyman
efforts as a London portrait artist and
The
New Yorker cartoonist, and his occasional
forays into advertising.
Preliminary drawings offer
rare glimpses of Williams,
the agile and tireless
perfectionist at his drawing
table, while final art for the
Wilder series,
Charlotte’s
Web, and many others
allows us an unexpectedly
intimate look at illustration
art that we as readers have
held dear all our lives.
Williams made it all look
so easy. But few illustrators
have mustered anything
like his powerful arsenal
of artistic skills, his intense
feeling of tenderness for childhood and the
natural world, his infectious wit, or his
grand gift for storytelling. Illustrator of the
century indeed!
— Leonard S. Marcus, children’s book historian and curator of this exhibition