Monday 4 April 2022

Roger Duvoisin - part 1

Roger Duvoisin (1904–1980) was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and in 1927, moved to New York for a job in textile design. When the company folded, he decided to publish a book he’d written and illustrated for his son. A Little Boy Drawing (Charles Scribner’s Sons) was released in 1932, and he followed it with Donkey, Donkey, which firmly established his career in children’s books—and is still in print, now from NYR Children’s Collection.

Roger’s signature style was colourful, bold, and graphic, and he had a strong sense of composition and design. He incorporated both humour and drama into the lines of his art and delivered compassion without being sentimental. Over the years, he wrote and illustrated over forty books, including series that featured Petunia the silly goose and Veronica the conspicuous hippo, folktales such as the Three Sneezes and The Crocodile in the Tree, and concept books such as A for the Ark.

Roger also created pictures for over 140 books by other authors. Among them were the popular Happy Lion books written by his wife, Louise Fatio, and nineteen books by Alvin R. Tresselt, including White Snow, Bright Snow, which was awarded a Caldecott Medaland Hide and Seek Fog, which was named a Caldecott Honour Book. Four of his titles were New York Times Best Illustrated Books, and in 1976, he received the Kerlan Award for Children’s Literature. His work is on display in the Duvoisin Gallery at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, in New Brunswick, NJ.

This is part 1 of an 11 part series on the works of Roger Duvoisin:

1932 A Little Boy was Drawing by Roger Duvoisin, published by Charles Scibner's Sons:

Front Cover

A Little Boy was Drawing
gouache and pen and ink on paper 27.3 x 21 cm (image)
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ

A Little Boy was Drawing
gouache, watercolour and pen and black ink on paper
 23.2 x 17.1 cm (image)
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ

A Little Boy was Drawing
gouache, watercolour and pen and ink on paper
22.9 x 17.1 cm (image)
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ

A Little Boy was Drawing
ink, gouache, collage, and graphite on paper
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ

A Little Boy was Drawing
gouache, watercolour and pen and black ink on paper
 22.9 x 17.1 cm (image)
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ


1933 Donkey Donkey by Roger Duvoison published by Whitman Publishing Co., Racine, Wisconsin:

1933 Donkey - Donkey
Front cover









1933 Donkey - Donkey
ink and watercolour on paper 21.8 x 16.8 cm (sheet)
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ


1933 Donkey - Donkey
black ink and grey wash on off-white wove paper
22 x 16.8 cm (sheet)
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ


1933 Donkey - Donkey
black ink and grey wash on off-white wove paper
 22.1 x 17.1 cm (sheet)
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, NJ

2016 edition of Donkey - Donkey
published by The New York Review Children’s Collection 


1938 And There Was America by Roger Duvoisin:





1938 Mother Goose: A Comprehensive Collection of the Rhymes by William Rose Benet, published by The Heritage Press:




1943 They Put Out to Sea, the Story of the Map by Roger Duvoisin, published by Alfred A. Knopf:



*           *           *           *           *

1933 Fortune magazine
February issue

1934 Fortune magazine
November issue 

1935 All Aboard! by Roger Duvoisin
published by Grosset and Dunlap

1935 Fortune magazine
March issue

1935 The New Yorker
October 26

1936 The New Yorker
February 1

1937 Riema by Kathleen Morrow Elliot
published by Alfred A. Knopf

1937 The New Yorker
March 20

1937 The New Yorker
March 20 original artwork
oil on canvas

1938 The New Yorker
October 22

1939 The New Yorker
September 30 
Borden's exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair

1940 Santa Claus and the Whale by Roger Duvoisin
published by Pomeroy's
 

1940 The New Yorker
August 3

1941 The Christmas Cake in Search of its Owner by Roger Duvoisin
published by American Artists Group

1941 The New Yorker
April 5

1941 The New Yorker
February 8

1941 The New Yorker
October 18

1941 The New Yorker
November 29

1941 The Three Sneezes and other Swiss Tales by Roger Duvoisin
published by Alfred A. Knopf

1943 At Our House by John G. McCullough
published by William R. Scott

1944 Jumpy the Kangaroo by Janet Howard
published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard

1945 I Won't, Said the King by Mildred Jordan
published by Alfred A. Knopf


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