Irving Allen

Feodor Rojankovsky: The Children's Books and Other Illustration Art Irving Allen

The first and only book on the career and illustration art of Feodor Rojankovsky(1891-1970), the prolific Russian-American children's artist and one of the most interesting personalities among modern children's illustrators. The full view of his work reflects the sweep of his adventurous and cosmopolitan life. More than half of his books were illustrated after 1941, when in mid-career Rojankovsky emigrated to the United States from France and made the picture books for which Americans know him best. In 1956, Rojankovsky was winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal for illustrating John Langstaff's Frog Went A-Courtin' (Harcourt Brace, 1955), a book still in print. The artist's early reputation as a children's illustrator was made in France in the 1930s, where today he is as well known and celebrated as in the United States. In addition to mainly children's-book illustrations, Feodor Rojankovsky throughout his long career steadily produced for grown-ups graphic art of nearly every kind, which was published in Europe and the United States: magazine covers and drawings, books, book covers and jackets, catalog covers and brochures, picture calendars, and magazine advertisements, travel and event posters, scenic postcards and Christmas greeting cards. The book brings to light little-known aspects of the artist's life, career, and work and should serve as the standard international reference work and collector's guide for this popular illustrator. Part I is a biography of Rojankovsky. Parts II and III are a catalogue raisonné of his published work, for children and for general audiences.