Dahlov Ipcar's seven decades in children's books - in pictures
Celebrated for her ‘non-intellectual cubist’ takes on wildlife and nature, the illustrator died last week, aged 99. Here are some highlights from a singular career
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From the book Black and White
Dahlov Zorach was born in 1917 in Vermont and was raised by her parents – both artists – in New York City. Growing up in a bohemian atmosphere, she was encouraged to pursue art from an early age.Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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From the book Wild and Tame
After getting married at the age of 19, she moved with her husband Adolph Ipcar to Maine, where they became small farmers. In 1939, at the age of 22, Ipcar had her first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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From the book Wild and Tame
In 1945, she illustrated her first children’s book: The Little Fisherman, a story written by children’s author Margaret Wise Brown. Dahlov would go on to write and illustrate more than 30 children’s books of her own – including Wild and Tame, in 1963.Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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From the book The Wonderful Egg
First published in 1958, The Wonderful Egg is all about dinosaurs, complete with a set of scale drawings and a pronunciation list.Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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From the book I Like Animals
By the 60s and 70s, Dahlov’s style became more intricate and geometric. Wildlife also began appearing more regularly. I Like Animals (1960) focused in on zoo animals.Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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From the book Black and White
Black and White, published in 1963, was inspired by the civil rights movement and tells the story of two dogs – one black, one white – who share a dream about the natural world.Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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From the book I Like Animals
Ipcar called her own style ‘non-intellectual cubism’. She used four-colour lithography, building up separate layers of colour.Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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From the book The Wonderful Egg
In a 2015 interview with the Bangor Daily News, Ipcar said she would not let her deteriorating eyesight keep her from her easel: ‘Everything is foggy. I get within an inch and a half of the canvas. I don’t think I’d stop [painting]. Even if I can’t see anything, it makes me happy.’Photograph: Dahlov Ipcar/Flying Eye Books
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Ipcar, pictured in 2007 at an exhibition to celebrate her 90th birthday in Freeport, Maine. She continued working until her death. Her sons said in a statement that she had spent her last day ‘at her easel working on her latest painting’.
Photograph: Portland Press Herald/Getty Images
