Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings
An Artist’s Exploration of Images and Words
About the Exhibition
Across his fifty-year journey as an illustrator, Jerry Pinkney has cast a warm, curious eye on our world to create transcendent images that reflect his passion for life, his love of family and community, and his deep and abiding engagement with the rich complexities of history. A master watercolorist with a distinct personal message to convey, he reminds us that no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted, in elegant images that celebrate life’s small but extraordinary moments, the wonders of classic literature, and the wisdom of those who have gone before us.
Initially created for the covers and pages of periodicals, postage stamps, greeting cards, product advertisements, and well-traveled historic sites rather than the walls galleries and museums, Pinkney’s artworks have also appeared in more than one hundred illustrated books, garnering well-deserved acclaim. Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings explores the artist’s lifelong engagement with literature, and the process of creating meaningful visual solutions that expand and enliven the narrative for readers of all ages.
Cover illustration for The Lion and the Mouse
Watercolor on paper. Collection of the artist
Artist Statement
I have a strong interest in why artists choose particular forms through which to express themselves. I chose book illustrations because I thrive on creating thought-provoking and engaging solutions for a text. In addition to enlivening the narrative visually with my artwork, it’s important to me to provide an opportunity for the reader to appreciate different ways of living, widening the sense of a place, and often, its historical context.
By grappling with my own interpretation of the world the writer creates, I grow as an artist and individual. This exhibition speaks to the meaning of the paintings themselves, and to the bookmaking process—from selecting projects that fit my artistic yearnings, to research, developmental sketches, photographing models, preparatory drawings, the finished illustrations, and at last, the bound book, which serves as both a historical object and work of art.
About Jerry Pinkney
Jerry Pinkney is an award-winning artist who began his creative journey in the field of illustration in 1960.
A native of Philadelphia, he studied at the Philadelphia College of Art, began his career as a graphic designer and greeting card artist, and has been illustrating children’s books since 1964. His art has appeared in more than one hundred books, garnering well-deserved acclaim. The recipient of a Caldecott Medal, five Caldecott Honor Medals, five Coretta Scott King Awards and four Coretta Scott King Honor Awards, Pinkney has received many commendations for his outstanding body of work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators in New York and an Artist Laureate Award from the Norman Rockwell Museum. His illustrated books have been translated into many languages and published in fourteen different countries.
In addition to his work in children’s books, Pinkney has created illustrations for a wide variety of clients, including the U.S. Postal Service, National Park Service, and National Geographic. He served on the U.S. Postal Services Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee for ten years, from 1982 to 1992, and in 2003, was appointed to the National Endowment for the Arts/NEA, a prestigious position held by the artist for six years. A gifted educator, he has mentored aspiring illustrators at Pratt Institute, the University of Delaware, and the New York State University at Buffalo. The recipient of Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University and the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, he has created artworks that are among the collections of The Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Delaware Art Museum, and the Brandywine River Art Museum.
Jerry Pinkney in his studio.
Photograph of Jerry Pinkney by Thomas Kristich, 2008
©2008 Jerry Pinkney Studio. All rights reserved.
Jerry Pinkney in his studio.
Photograph of Jerry Pinkney by Thomas Kristich, 2008
©2008 Jerry Pinkney Studio. All rights reserved.
Bringing Classic Stories and Folk Tales to Life
During his childhood, Jerry Pinkney’s parents, who migrated to Philadelphia from the South, read and retold classic folk tales in rhythmic cadences that captured his imagination, providing a sense of cultural belonging. The legend of John Henry, Uncle Remus tales and the adventures of Brer Rabbit, and the classic story of The Ugly Duckling, all illustrated by the artist later in life, were among his favorites. Helen Bannerman’s The Story of Little Black Sambo was treasured among the books in his family’s library, despite its critical reevaluation. “The tale of a small boy of color who exhibited courage and wit, and triumphed over something much larger than himself,” was both appealing and affirming. These stories most often had a lesson, and they were told with the whole body, animated by laughter or punctuated with frowns, each teller embellishing tales told many times before. “I needed those stories—they filled a place in my daydreaming world and fired up my imagination. With no television or other modern entertainment, reciting stories to one another was a beloved pastime, and one shared by parents, relatives, neighbors…my whole community.”
In the 1970s, the artist began creating imagery for the Franklin Library, illustrating thirteen novels from the cannon of English literature, including Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, The Covenant by James A. Michener, and Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. They are featured here alongside Their Eyes Were Watching God, “ which I consider the exhibition’s centerpiece. The art is all about the drawing—my passion—and it served as a vehicle to express my interest and deep respect for its author, Zora Neale Hurston, and her groundbreaking work.
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Family Guide
Across his fifty-five-year journey as an illustrator, Jerry Pinkney has cast a warm, curious eye on our world to create images that reflect his passion for life, his love of family and community, and his deep engagement with the rich complexities of history. His award-winning illustrations have appeared in more than one hundred books. Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings reflects the artist’s love of literature, and the process of creating meaningful visual solutions that expand and enliven a narrative.
We hope you will enjoy this guide to Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings, which features artworks inspired by classic and contemporary literature, and by well-loved folk tales and fairy tales. It includes looking, writing, and drawing activities to experience in the galleries and at home.
Deputy Director/Chief Curator
Norman Rockwell Museum
Family Traditions
Jerry and Gloria Jean Pinkney raised their young family, opportunities to illustrate picture books emerged, and the artist challenged himself to create true authenticity in his art. During the 1960s, the unwritten conventions of mid-century that avoided depictions of ethnicity in published art began to fall away, inspired by public demand for more inclusive cultural representations. As a father and as an illustrator striving to avoid stereotype, he began to understand art’s power to construct perceptions about race and society.
Family loomed large in important mid-career works that opened a window onto the everyday lives of African Americans, and Pinkney’s empathetic depictions reflected his own compassionate nature. His illustrations for The Patchwork Quilt, Valerie Flournoy’s poignant 1985 story about the intergenerational bonds within an African American family, were pivotal. The book’s appearance on PBS television’s
Reading Rainbow, which promoted quality literature for children, shared its message widely and signified success. In the 1990s, Back Home and The Sunday Outing, two books written by the artist’s wife, Gloria Jean Pinkney, brought family memories and traditions to light. In this exhibition, Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr.’s swing spiritual, God Bless the Child, was the inspiration for Pinkney’s moving depiction of one family’s move north during the Great Migration of the 1930s—something his family, too, had experienced.
Curriculum
Curriculum (Grades 6-12): Making Positive Change
Build writing skills, media literacy, and civic responsibility as you explore ways that Jerry Pinkney helped to diversify children’s literature.
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Goals:
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Curriculum (Grades, K-5): Heros
Build literacy skills and social responsibility as you explore ways that Jerry Pinkney helped to diversify children’s literature.
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Goals:
- Practice Close Reading
- Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis and reflection
Curriculum (Grades K-5): Picturing Words
Build comprehension skills as you investigate Jerry Pinkney’s process as an illustrator.
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Goals:
- Practice Close Reading
- Interpret words and phrases in a text
- Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats
Events
There are no upcoming events currently scheduled for this exhibition.
Media
Imaginings: An Afternoon with Jerry Pinkney
ARTIST LAUREATE HONORARY LECTURE
Recorded: June 18, 2016
Norman Rockwell Museum
2016 © Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings – Exhibition Video
Across his fifty-year journey as an illustrator, Jerry Pinkney has cast a warm, curious eye on our world to create transcendent images that reflect his passion for life, his love of family and community, and his deep and abiding engagement with the rich complexities of history. A master watercolorist with a distinct personal message to convey, he reminds us that no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted, in elegant images that celebrate life’s small but extraordinary moments, the wonders of classic literature, and the wisdom of those who have gone before us.
2016 © Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings – The Artistic Process
Initially created for the covers and pages of periodicals, postage stamps, greeting cards, product advertisements, and well-traveled historic sites rather than the walls galleries and museums, Pinkney’s artworks have also appeared in more than one hundred illustrated books, garnering well-deserved acclaim. “Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings” explores the artist’s lifelong engagement with literature, and the process of creating meaningful visual solutions that expand and enliven the narrative for readers of all ages.
2016 © Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings – Personification in Art
2016 © Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Press
Image Credit: Jerry Pinkney
PARADE chooses The Lion and the Mouse as one of the best 75 books in 75 years
June 27, 2016
The rich and textured images speak for themselves in this wordless children’s book that recreates Aesop’s fable about the Lion and Mouse. The award-winning Pinkney is one of the great illustrators of our time.
Photograph of Jerry Pinkney by Thomas Kristich, 2008
©2008 Jerry Pinkney Studio. All rights reserved.
Jerry Pinkney is the recipient of the 2016 Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
January 11, 2016
“Accomplished artist and illustrator Jerry Pinkney constructs books which explore cultural experiences and ethnic identity. This dynamic process offers amazing insight, remarkable skill, and distinctive style. Through the visual life of his illustrations, Pinkney has created a vast and broad legacy for child and adult audiences,” stated Awards Jury Chair Dr. Darwin L. Henderson.
In selecting Jerry Pinkney, the Jury observes that his illustrations detail a world that resonates with readers long after the pages of a book have been turned. His five decades of work offer compelling artistic insights into the legacy of African American storytelling and experience. Beyond Pinkney’s technical brilliance, his support of differentiated learning through art and of young illustrators sets him apart as both artist and educator. His powerful illustrations have redefined the scope of the sophisticated picture book and its use with multiple levels of learners.
Jerry Pinkney wins 2016 Wilder Award Achievement
January 11, 2016
Author and Illustrator Jerry Pinkney is the winner of the 2016 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honoring an author or illustrator, published in the United States, whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. His numerous works include [Julius Lester’s] “John Henry” (Dial Books for Young Readers, 1994) and [Patricia C. McKissack’s] “Mirandy and Brother Wind (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009).
The award was announced today, during the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Boston. The award is administered annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA, and is named for its first recipient in 1954.
“Jerry Pinkney is an extraordinary visual storyteller. His subjects illuminate the African-American experience, the joys of classic literature, and the age-old wisdom embodied in familiar folktales,” said Wilder Award Committee Chair Chrystal Carr Jeter.
Venues Hosting This Exhibition
Current Venue
THIS EXHIBITION IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR TOURING
Past Venues
Upcountry History Museum, Furman University, Greenville, SC
Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery at Lebanon Valley College
North White Oak and Church Streets
Annville, PA 17003
Exhibition Dates:
January 15, 2016 – March 13, 2016
Host this Exhibition – this exhibition is no longer available for touring
Across his fifty-year journey as an illustrator, Jerry Pinkney has cast a warm, curious eye on our world to create images that reflect his passion for life, his love of family and community, and his deep and abiding engagement with the rich complexities of history. Initially created for the covers and pages of periodicals, postage stamps, greeting cards, product advertisements, and well-traveled historic sites, Pinkney’s artworks have also appeared in more than one hundred books, garnering well-deserved acclaim. Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings explores the artist’s engagement with literature, and the process of creating meaningful visual solutions that expand and enliven a narrative. Artworks inspired by classic and contemporary literature, and by well-loved folk tales and fairy tales, will be on view.
The recipient of the 2010 Caldecott Medal, as well as five Caldecott Honor Medals, five Coretta Scott King Awards, and four Coretta Scott King Honor Awards, Pinkney has received many commendations for his outstanding body of work, including the Original Art’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators, in 2006 and two Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Library Association, The Virginia Hamilton Award and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 2016. Always wishing to give back, he served on the United States Postal Service Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee for 10 years, from 1982 to 1992, and in 2003, was appointed to the National Council on the Arts/NEA, where he became an influential advocate for arts
“I am a storyteller at heart. There is something special about knowing that your stories can alter the way people see the world, and their place within it.”
– Jerry Pinkney
Always rooting for the underdog, he continues to make images that bear witness to an underlying belief that all things are possible. Reaching beyond their aesthetic and conceptual underpinnings, his vibrant illustrations reveal larger truths about who we are and who we might become.