On Monday, staffers of The Carle took a field trip to visit our Berkshire neighbor, The Norman Rockwell Museum. They’re currently featuring, in addition to their amazing collection of Rockwell originals, artwork from the prolific children’s illustrator and popular cartoonist, William Steig. I was so excited to see pieces of The Carle’s collection of Steig’s children’s book art, including illustrations from Shrek! and my personal favorite, Alpha Beta Chowder, but even more so to see his adult cartoons and New Yorker covers for the first time. It was quite remarkable to see how many pieces were in the exhibit, (three full galleries!) and also to see just how relevant and humorous Steig’s artwork still is to audiences today. I overheard so many people chuckling while walking through his galleries. Here’s one of my personal favorite adult cartoons from the exhibition:
"I've got some bad news." Photo courtesy of The Norman Rockwell Museum
It was so wonderful to see Steig’s original artwork and I can’t wait for our own upcoming exhibition at The Carle, Monsters & Miracles: A Journey Through Jewish Picture Books, when Steig’s work will join many others in our gallery this month.
While it has been a dreary, rainy start to autumn here in Western Mass, the view from the Norman Rockwell Museum was still spectacular as the leaves are starting to turn color. Here’s Rockwell’s art studio behind the museum.
We are so grateful for the Norman Rockwell Museum for hosting us and encourage everyone to hurry to see the exhibit William Steig: Love & Laughter before it closes at the end of this month. I can’t wait to go back when their next exhibit, Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney opens in November. Maybe I’ll see you there!
