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The Art of the Contemporary Picture Book

1980; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 1980; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/chq.1980.0003

1553-1201

Rebecca Selden, Sarah Smedman,

Comics and Graphic Narratives

THE ART OF THE CONTEMPORARY PICTURE BOOK Seiden: Today we would like to introduce you to just a few of the hundreds of artists whose works comprise the art of the picture book. Because of the limitations of time we had great difficulty in deciding on our focus and narrowing down our choice of illustrators. Rather than survey the history of the picture book, we chose to present the works of several contemporary illustrators, most of whom have been recognized for their excellence by the Caldecott or Greenaway awards committees. Also, as part of our emphasis, we looked for illustrations representing a wide range of art styles. One of the artists who has experimented with considerable success in several styles is Maurice Sendak. I want to quote him on the role of illustration in contemporary children's literature: Here [in the U.S.] we are very much involved in making illustrations work in a very specific way inside a book. A picture is not there because there should be a picture there; there is a purpose for a picture — we are embellishing, or we are enlarging, or we are helping the author, or we are involving ourselves in some very deep way with the writer of the book, so that the book (when., it is finally illustrated) means more than when it was just written. In the discipline of children's literature, the graphic arts have a special relationship with the text. Editor' s Note: Page numbers in parentheses indicate the sources of the slides used to illustrate this presentation. Those placed in brackets are from books without actual pagination. Complete references are cited in the bibliography. Maurice Sendak, The Moon Jumpers Seiden: Maurice Sendak, perhaps more than any other writer-illustrator working today, recalls and recaptures the emotional quality of childhood. This illustration is from The Moon Jumpers ; the text was written by Janice Udry, and it, sadly, limps beside the illustration, (pp. [22-23]) The book alternates black and white, heavy-lined drawings and double-page colored paintings. It was Sendak' s first picture book in color and was the recipient of a 1960 Caldecott Honor Medal. In the colored illustrations, Sendak conveys the dreamy, wordless awareness of the interconnectedness of all being. Note the mysterious, mythic power of the moon. (pp. [18-19]) Sendak has repeatedly commented on his love for William Blake, which led Jennifer Waller to compare their visions of childhood and to comment that, like Blake's, Sendak' s children live in a world of ingenuity, sensitivity, sometimes delight, and sometimes rage and frustration. Sendak' s illustrations reflect and evoke the child's imaginative experience . In this illustration, the frenetic, almost frantic cavorting of the children is subdued. (pp. [14-15]) This has the aura of the sadness of a farewell . The cat stares at us with enigmatic eyes , letting us know that she is in communion with an inner source of wisdom — she is moonstruck! In the next illustration, the only one in which we do not see the cat's eyes, she is leading the children back into the house, (pp. [26-27]) She is in the shadow of the parent, subjugated, as are the children's imaginations, by rules and order. The moon jumpers preserve, however, an aura of mystery and serenity. In the last illustration the children are asleep, having looked forward to the sun of the next day, but the moon still rules the universe, peaceful, mysterious, wise. (pp. [30-31]) Sendak always draws and paints to music and conceives of his compositions as ballet, of rhythmical movement. Mozart, he says, is not only his favorite composer but his best friend. The colors in Moon Jumpers are Mozartian: powerful, yet sensitive, delicate, finely shaded. The greens, yellows, and blues are Mozartian hues. The pastoral quality of these illustrations represents a typical motif in books for children. It is important for them to learn that the physical universe into which they are embarking is a friendly place and welcomes them. There is no trace of nostalgia in Sendak' s works, however. He speaks to the child alive in all of us, whom he sees is above all else defenseless, and...