TMA Exhibition Features Illustrations from Children's Books
People’s pets are such an important part of life. Wouldn’t it be fun to see an art exhibition about them? A new show at the Toledo Museum of Art provides the chance.
Presented by Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Best in Show: Animal Illustrations from the Mazza Collection opens Feb. 13 in Gallery 18 and features an assortment of pets from children’s picture books. Though small in size, the free exhibition has a lot to offer visitors.
All of the 54 works are on loan from the University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of original art by the illustrators of children’s picture books.
The illustrators’ creations include 22 dogs, 14 cats and assorted other animals from hens to horses that have populated books for youngsters from the 1930s to the present.
This is the second time TMA has partnered with the Mazza Museum. The 2009 Storybook Stars exhibition was very well received.
“We are pleased indeed to be working again with the Mazza Museum and appreciate the support provided by the Marathon Petroleum Corporation to create an exhibition that all ages will enjoy,” TMA Director Brian Kennedy said.
Visitors will see beloved characters, including Clifford the Big Red Dog created by Norman Bridwell (1928–2014) and a drawing of Walt Disney’s Pluto created in the early 1930s by Hardie Gramatky (1907–1979).
Also on view are Marley Makes a Mess in the Kitchen by Richard Cowdrey (born 1963) from John Grogan’s book “Bad Dog Marley;” the cover illustration for “Mrs. Huggins and Her Hen Hannah” by Lydia Dabcovich (1935–2011) and In Bed by Margot Tomes (1917–1991) from the book “Lysbeth and the Fire Kittens.”
“Many of these artists are from the Midwest, and many started as children wanting to do nothing but draw and make it their life’s work,” notes Chief Curator Carolyn Putney, who organized the show, her last before her retirement after 37 years at TMA.
The center of the gallery has a comfortable reading area so visitors may look at the original works of art then sit down and read the books for which they were made. Copies of some the books are available for purchase in the Museum Store.
In a hands-on section that may encourage the next generation of illustrators, children can make their own drawings to finish a storyboard and take part in an “I spy” game that challenges visitors to search for animals in other galleries at the Museum.
Putney will give a free talk about the Best in Show exhibition at 7 p.m., Feb. 26, in the Little Theater.
Presented by the Marathon Petroleum Corporation, the free exhibition also is made possible by members of the Toledo Museum of Art and by funding through the Ohio Arts Council sustainability grant program. Admission to the Museum is free. Parking is free for Museum members and $5 for nonmembers.
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Organization Name: Toledo Museum of Art
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