Brian Wildsmith exhibition South Yorkshire

For the first time Brian’s personal collection of over 40 colourful original illustrations, early works, drawings and paintings will be on display in the beautiful setting of the Cooper Gallery. The walls will be filled with colour and vivid characters. It’s a perfect destination for art lovers of all ages and our younger visitors can enjoy our specially created forest activity area ‘Brian’s Wild Wood’, upstairs in the Sadler Room.

Read more about this exhibition here. And also here on the Brian Wildsmith web page. I hope to visit later this month. He illustrated well over 100 books and also did many book covers early early in his career. He illustrated the cover of our Australian book Tangara by Nan Chauncy in 1960. 

Liberty fabrics have made a range of material to celebrate his work and in the video you can hear Brian Wildsmith's voice. 

Brian Lawrence Wildsmith was born on 22 January 1930 in Penistone. In 1946 he enrolled at the Barnsley School of Art. In 1962 he was Awarded the Kate Greenaway medal for his work on the book, ‘ABC’. His vibrant use of colour and depictions of animals became his trademark. In the 1970s Brian and his family moved permanently to France. In 1994 a Brian Wildsmith Art Museum was opened in Izu-kogen, in the south of Tokyo in Japan, closing the year he died in 2016. (source Barnsley Museums Blog) Read more here. 

Here are some Kirkus review comments:

• As usual with Wildsmith's work, the animals and birds are superb ...
• ... no one should forgo Wildsmith's delectable art with its delicately glowing colors and wonderfully imaginative juxtapositions of harmonious images.
• Wildsmith has outdone himself in splendid paintings of a lush tropical isle aglow between a richly luminous sky and a gloriously beautiful sea.

This gorgeous budgie illustration comes from his book Circus:

This sweet little hedgehog is from his book Wild Animals

You can see cover images of all books by Brian Wildsmith here. My own favourites are:

Daisy

I used to own these glorious alphabet cards and animal cards (hope the person who has them now loves them as much as I did).

Animal Gallery the cover at the top of this post is a book about collective nouns - a pride of lions; a corps of giraffes; a wedge of swans; a party of rainbow fish; a stare of owls; and more.

Awards:

1963 Kate Greenaway Medal: The Lion and the Rat.

Kate Greenaway Medal: The Oxford Book of Poetry for Children.

1964 Horn Book Honor List. 

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books.

1965 The Brooklyn Art Books for Children Citation: 1 2 3.

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books.

1966 Hans Christian Andersen Award: runner-up.

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books. 

1967 The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal: Birds.

New York Times: Best illustrated book of the year: Birds.

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books.

1968 Hans Christian Andersen Award: runner up.

1971 Kate Greenaway Medal: The Owl and the Woodpecker.

1982 Kurt Maschler Award short-listed: Pelican.

1991 Ushio Publication Culture Award: In recognition of his distinguished achievements.

1994 Selected as one of The Children’s Books of the Year: The Easter Story.

1995 The CD Rom of: The Christmas Story, won the Grand Prix of European Multi-Media.

1998 National Jewish Book Awards, Finalist: Exodus/Moses.

2000 Parent Council Ltd, Selected as outstanding: The Easter Story.

Children’s Literature, Choice List: Moses.

2001 - 2002 Children’s Crown Award reading Programs, Nominee List: Moses.

2005 Book Sense, Easter/Passover, Top Ten Picks List: Moses.