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Picture lions, tigers, and bears in vibrant and sometimes unsettling colors, with lines that convey the texture of fur and expressions that compel readers to want to know mese characters. Open his books, and you too can step into the magical, colorful world of British artist and bookmaker Brian Wildsmith.
Today, children's book illustration is considered a fine art form. Children's book art graces the walls of galleries, and whole museums have been dedicated to it. In many books, innovative and stunning artwork dominates the print, and visually oriented children have come to expect books to be feasts for their eyes. But that hasn't always been so. In fact, before Wildsmith came onto the children's book scene, the children's book illustrator's role was simply to support the author's story.
In 1962, Wildsmith authored and illustrated his first children's book, ABC, for which he was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal, Britain's equivalent to the Caldecott Medal. This was an auspicious beginning for a young man at the start of his freelance art career, and many consider Wildsmith's entrance into children's book illustration as the beginning of a golden age.
His artwork broke with tradition when he created images that could be described as "challenging" for children. His work was not realistic, and as such it may not have appealed to adults who assumed that children's book illustration should simplify, rather than complicate, the story elements of setting, character, and plot.
Fortunately, Mabel George, his editor at Oxford University Press, recognized Wildsmith's brilliant designs and succeeded in finding a printer who could reproduce the dynamic colors of his artwork with integrity. Both artist and editor were committed to creating children's books with mature, grown-up artwork. Wildsmith has said "I believe that beautiful picture books are vitally important in subconsciously forming a child's visual appreciation, which will bear fruit in later life."
In 1994, the Brian Wildsmith Art Museum was established in Izukogen, Japan. Eight hundred of his paintings are on loan to the museum. Almost one and a half million people, children and adults, visited a traveling exhibition of his work in 2005. Many have been touched by his talent and influenced by his exuberant vision.
Born and raised where everything was cold and gray in Yorkshire,...