ALICE and MARTIN PROVENSEN (1918-2018 / 1916-1987)
"The Swan Maiden." Illustration for the story by Howard Pyle, published on page 123 in The Provensen Book of Fairy Tales (New York: Random House, 1971). Mixed media with goauche, ink, and graphite on board. 300x245 mm; 11¾x9¾ inches. Signed "A. and M. Provensen" in ink, lower image; preparatory sketch in black in over pink gouache on verso. Provenance: Bush Galleries. Alice Twitchell and Martin Provenson met in Hollywood when they were both working on World War II animated propaganda films at the Walter Lantz Studio. He had previously worked on Pinocchio, Fantasia and Dumbo for Walt Disney. They left the movies for children's books and quickly established themselves as important Golden Book illustrators, their best known book being Margaret Wise Brown's The Color Kittens (1951). They were named Caldecott runners-up for A Visit to William Blake's Inn (1981) and won the Caldecott Medal for The Glorious Flight (1983).