Esphyr Solomonovna Slobodkina (; September 22, 1908 – July 21, 2002) was a Russian-born American artist, author, and illustrator, best known for her classic children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

Caps for Sale ''Caps for Sale'' is a children's picture book, written and illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina and published by W. R. Scott in 1940. Summary Based on a folktale, the story follows a mustachioed cap-selling peddler (unnamed in the book, he is know ...

''. Slobodkina was a celebrated

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

artist and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

in the middle part of the 20th century.

Biography

Esphyr Slobodkina (''ESS-phere sloh-BOD-kee-nah'') was born in

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in 1908.Ari L. Goldman,
Esphyr Slobodkina, Artist And Author, Is Dead at 93
" ''New York Times'', July 27, 2002. The

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

created an unstable and dangerous climate for their

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family and she emigrated with her family to

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

(

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

), where she studied art and architecture. Slobodkina immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1928. She enrolled at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

. It was there that she met her future husband, Russian-born Ilya Bolotowsky (they divorced in 1938). Along with Ilya, Slobodkina was a founding member of the

American Abstract Artists American Abstract Artists (AAA) was founded in 1937 in New York City, to promote and foster public understanding of abstract art. American Abstract Artists exhibitions, publications, and lectures helped to establish the organization as a major f ...

group, which began amid controversy in 1936. Like other Russian modernists, surrounded by ancient icons and a rich craft tradition, Slobodkina developed a lifelong appreciation of clear, rich colors, and flat, stylized forms. According to her biography on the HarperCollins website, In the late 1930s, Slobodkina began to write and illustrate her own children's books. Among her 24 published works, ''Caps for Sale'' (1940) is considered a children's book classic; it has sold more than 7.5 million copies and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. ''Caps for Sale'' won the

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" as ''Al ...

in 1958. Her other children's works include ''The Wonderful Feast'' (written in 1928, first published in 1955), ''The Clock'' (1956), ''The Long Island Ducklings'' (1961), and ''Pezzo the Peddler and the Circus Elephant'' (1967), reissued as ''Circus Caps for Sale'' (2002). In 1948, feeling the need to get out of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and having saved some money, Slobodkina built a house in

Great Neck, New York Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among th ...

and moved there with her mother; they remained in the house until 1977. According to the Sullivan Goss art gallery website, Slobodkina died in 2002.

Work

Through the 1930s, Slobodkina developed her unique method of working in oils; a flattened, abstracted style that incorporated line, suspended or interlocking forms. But by the late 30s and 40s, Slobodkina was using a variety of techniques and materials. Many of her works were collages and constructions, integrating paint, wood, plastic, and metal with everyday objects such as parts of disassembled typewriters and computers into amusing and often great art. Slobodkina's work eventually received high acclaim. In 1943, Slobodkina was included in

Peggy Guggenheim Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemianism, bohemian, and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who we ...

's show '' Exhibition by 31 Women'' at the

Art of This Century gallery The Art of This Century gallery was opened by Peggy Guggenheim at 30 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City on October 20, 1942. The gallery occupied two commercial spaces on the seventh floor of a building that was part of the midtown arts d ...

in New York. “Her life’s work pulled imagery and objects together into magnificent compositions time and time again," stated Harold Porcher, an authority on Slobodkina's art. "I equate an artist like Esphyr to the American

mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family (biology), family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species Mimicry, mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly ...

. A mockingbird borrows and embellishes the songs of other birds around him. Often he changes the phrasing as he incorporates each element into an orchestration of birdsong. The

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

movement shifted the center of the art world from Paris to New York City, where it remains today. Slobodkina was a member of the early founders of American Abstract Artists which help to establish abstraction as a viable form of expression in America. In the last years of the 20th century, Slobodkina continued her productivity, alternating serious work on abstract paintings with the more relaxing activities — to her — of creating sculpture, wall hangings, multimedia constructions, dolls and jewelry, often made out of old typewriter and computer parts. As Anne Cohen DePietro wrote, "Traversing nearly a century of inspiration, it is Slobodkina’s enduring delight in the creative act and her single-minded pursuit of her aesthetic vision in a multiplicity of media that continues to enchant."Anne Cohen DePietro,
"Esphyr Slobodkina,"
Slobodkina Foundation website.

Legacy

In April 2000, at age 91, Slobodkina established the Slobodkina Foundation, dedicated to the conservation, preservation, and exhibition of art. The Slobodkina Foundation was designed to educate the public about Slobodkina's work and encourage others to pursue their dreams through awareness of Slobodkina's accomplishments. Before her death in 2002, Slobodkina redesigned her home in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, as a mini-museum and reading room for children, a place where guests viewed more than 500 works of art for more than ten years. Although the Slobodkina Home was sold out of necessity in 2011, the charitable Slobodkina Foundation continues to preserve the legacy of Slobodkina's prolific, multifaceted career. Her paintings, sculptures and literary works are part of the collections of The

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

, New York; the Smithsonian; the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

; the

Heckscher Museum of Art The Heckscher Museum of Art is an American art museum. It is named after its benefactors, Anna and August Heckscher, who in 1920 donated 185 works of art to be housed in a new Beaux-Arts building located in Heckscher Park, in Huntington, New ...

; Hillwood Art Museum, the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, New York; the Northeast Children's Literature Collection, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center,

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, Storrs, Connecticut; the

Corcoran Gallery The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran ...

, Washington, DC; the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

; the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection,

The University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, master's, ...

; the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

; among others.

Bibliography

''Written and illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina unless otherwise noted'' * ''The Little Fireman'', written by

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' (1947) and ''The Runaway Bunny'' (1942), both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the ...

( W. R. Scott, 1938) — illustrator * ''

'' (W. R. Scott, 1940) * ''The Little Cowboy'', written by Margaret Wise Brown (W. R. Scott, 1948) — illustrator * ''The Little Farmer'', written by Margaret Wise Brown (W. R. Scott, 1948) — illustrator * ''Sleepy ABC'', written by Margaret Wise Brown (Lothrop, 1953) — illustrator * ''The Clock'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1956) * ''Little Dog Lost, Little Dog Found'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1956) * ''Behind the Dark Window Shade'' (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co., 1958) * ''The Little Dinghy'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1958) * ''Pinky and the Petunias'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1959) * ''Moving Day for the Middlemans'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1960) * ''Jack and Jim'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1961) * ''The Long Island Ducklings'' (Lantern Press, 1961) * ''Boris and His Balalaika'', illustrated by

Vladimir Bobri Vladimir Bobri (), born Volodymyr Bobritskiy (; May 13, 1898, Kharkiv, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – November 3, 1986, Rosendale, New York) was an illustrator, writer, composer, educator, and guitar historian. Celebrated for his prolific and ...

(Abelard-Schuman, 1964) * ''Pezzo the Peddler and the Circus Elephant'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1967) — later retitled ''Circus Caps for Sale'' * ''The Wonderful Feast'' (E. M. Hale, 1967) * ''The Flame, the Breeze, and the Shadow'' ( Rand McNally and Co., 1967) * ''Billy, the Condominium Cat'' (

Addison-Wesley Addison–Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson plc, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison–Wesley also distributes its technical titles ...

, 1980) * ''Spots, Alias Prince'' (E. Slobodkina, 1987) * ''Mary and the Poodies'' (E. Slobodkina, 1994) * ''More Caps for Sale'' with Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 2015) — published posthumously * ''Caps for Sale and the Mindful Monkeys'' with Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer (HarperCollins, 2017) — published posthumously

References

Other sources

*Esphyr Slobodkina, ''Notes for a Biographer'', a three-volume, limited edition autobiography. *Gail Stavitsky and Elizabeth Wylie, ''The Life and Art of Esphyr Slobodkina'', Tufts Univ Art Gallery (1992), . *Ann Marie Sayer et al., ''Rediscovering Slobodkina: A Pioneer of American Abstraction'', Hudson Hills Press (2009), . *JoAnn Conrad, ''Esphyr Slobodkina – Modernist (Children’s Book) Illustrator/Author'', https://blogs.lib.uconn.edu/archives/2015/09/29/esphyr-slobodkina-modernist-childrens-book-illustratorauthor/

External links

Esphyr Slobodkina – official website

American Abstract Artists
– co-founded by Slobodkina * (primarily previous page of browse report, under 'Slobodkina, Esphyr, 1908–' without '2002') *Esphyr Slobodkina Papers at th
University of Connecticut Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slobodkina, Esphyr 1908 births 2002 deaths Russian abstract painters American abstract painters American people of Russian-Jewish descent Chinese emigrants to the United States Emigrants from the Russian Empire to China Jewish American illustrators Jewish American children's writers American women children's book illustrators Jewish women writers Russian children's writers Russian women children's writers Russian women painters White Russian emigrants to the United States Writers from Chelyabinsk Writers who illustrated their own writing 20th-century Russian sculptors 21st-century Russian sculptors 20th-century Russian painters 20th-century Russian women artists 20th-century Russian women writers 20th-century Russian writers 20th-century women painters People from Great Neck, New York People from Hallandale Beach, Florida Naturalized citizens of the United States