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Barbara Cooney’s stories and illustrations have delighted both children and adults for decades. The Museum holds the original paintings for the illustrations in four of Barbara Cooney's books: her Maine trilogy: Miss Rumphius, Island Boy, and Hattie and the Wild Waves; and Eleanor. With the exception of Eleanor, based on the life of first-lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Cooney considered these to be her composite autobiography. This exhibition brings together paintings, sketches, and preparatory drawings for those books and presents a rare opportunity to step into Barbara Cooney’s world.
Barbara Cooney was the author and illustrator of more than 100 books for children. She was twice awarded Caldecott medals, first in 1959 for her illustrations for Chaucer’s Chanticleer and the Fox and then in 1980 for Ox-Cart Man, written by Donald Hall. Her Miss Rumphius received the American Book Award and inspired the creation of the Maine Library Association’s Lupine Award. Island Boy (1988) earned a Globe-Horn Book Honor Award and Hattie and the Wild Waves won the Lupine Award in 1990.
For further information about works by Barbara Cooney in the collection of the Museum of Art, go to "Collections" and search for "Cooney."
Pictured above:
Barbara Cooney, American, 1917-2000, Island of Ambon in the Moluccas, Indonesia ( for "Miss Rumphius"), 1982, Acrylic on gesso-coated percale, Bequest of Barbara Cooney, 2000.17.1.13
