The Yellow Building Painting by Blair Lent

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This is really a great piece. I acquired a collection of blair lent's (1930-2009) work directly from his estate a … Read more This is really a great piece. I acquired a collection of blair lent's (1930-2009) work directly from his estate a few years ago and they are fantastic works. Lent was a world famous illustrator who won the caldecott award for children's book illustration in 1973. See below for a complete biography from his new york times obituary.

This work is one of his wonderful original drawing that I believe was done for one of the children's book lent illustrated. Watercolor on artist board measuring 6 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches. Initialed and dated lower right. Great color and contrast. The back has the artist's original label with the title of the work. Complete original sheet measures 8 3/4 x 10 inches. Margins show remnants of tape that usually come from this being used in the printing of a book. Painting is hinged into archival backing. Unframed

blair lent's biography from his new york times obituary reads:

blair lent, a children’s book author and award-winning artist whose detailed work illustrated beloved books like “tikki tikki tembo,” “the funny little woman” and “why the sun and the moon live in the sky,” died jan. 27 In medford, mass. He was 80 and lived in cambridge. Although mr. Lent occasionally wrote and illustrated his own books, like “pistachio,” about a green cow and a circus, he specialized in illustrating international folk tales retold by other writers. Using a broad variety of techniques, including cardboard cutouts, colored pencil, acrylic painting, and ink and wash, he provided the images for tales from japan, russia, india and africa. His illustrations for “the funny little woman,” a japanese folk tale retold by arlene mosel, won the caldecott medal in 1973.

Mr. Lent was born in boston and earned an art degree from the boston museum school in 1953. After traveling in switzerland and italy on a study grant, he designed tin-can labels for the container corporation of america and bank-loan advertisements for the bresnick advertising company. With the encouragement of a juvenile-books editor at atlantic monthly press, he wrote and illustrated “pistachio,” published in 1964. Two more of his own books quickly followed. Under the name ernest small, he wrote “baba yaga” (1966), based on a witch in russian folk tales. In “john tabor’s ride” (1966) he retold a tall tale about a new england seaman who rides across the oceans and up the mississippi river on the back of a whale.

He later wrote and illustrated “bayberry bluff” (1987), “molasses flood” (1992) and “ruby and fred” (2000). Mr. Lent was best known for the illustrations he did for books by other writers, including “the wave” (1964), a lafcadio hearn story adapted by margaret hodges; “tikki tikki tembo” (1968), a chinese folk tale retold by ms. Mosel; the african folk tale “why the sun and the moon live in the sky” (1968), retold by elphinstone dayrell; hans christian andersen’s “little match girl” (1968); and “the beastly feast” (1998) by bruce goldstone. Most of his artwork was donated to the kerlan collection at the university of minnesota and the mazza museum at the university of findlay, in findlay, ohio. See less