R. Michelson Galleries founder Richard Michelson poses with just some of the classic children’s books that will have their illustrations honored and exhibited at the gallery starting Nov. 8.
Photo credit: R. Michelson Galleries
NORTHAMPTON — Lovers of children’s books of all ages are invited to meet their favorite illustrators and authors at a Northampton gallery’s biggest party of the year.
On Sunday, Nov. 8, R. Michelson Galleries will present the annual Children’s Illustration Celebration, marking the gallery’s 47th anniversary and the 37th celebration of the work it houses.
During that time, the gallery has seen its artists earn 16 Caldecott Medals and 37 Caldecott Honor Awards, some of the highest honors given to children’s illustrators.
The evening will serve as the opening reception for this year’s celebratory exhibits, on view until January 31, 2027. The celebration and exhibits will showcase the legacies of classic children’s illustrators like R.W. Alley, Eric Carle and Marc Brown, as well as those leading the next generation, like Angie Kang and Micha Archer, among others.
A full list of the illustrators showcased in this year’s celebration is available at rmichelson.com/illustration/. The Eric Carle Museum will be in attendance selling books, and as always, the event is free to the public and for all ages.
Gallery founder Richard Michelson told Reminder Publishing he is proud of what the gallery has built: recognition as the premier gallery for picture book illustrations and the first venue in the country to feature illustration on an equal footing with “fine art.”
When the exhibit first started, Michelson was working with a handful of artists in trying to create a collaborative gallery space to highlight works and was not initially keen on the value of illustration made for children.
One of the artists working with Michelson at that time was Barry Mosher, who got an offer to illustrate the children’s book, “Jump on Over!: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and His Family.” This not only led to Mosher’s illustrative work but also showed Michelson a whole other world of art that deserved to be showcased and appreciated.
“I really didn’t know anything about the world of picture books myself. I didn’t grow up with a lot of picture books. I wasn’t sure about it. I was actually fairly leery about that. But Barry was one of our artists, and when it came time for his annual show, we hung some of those original watercolors,” Michelson recalled. “I always loved poetry, and I loved art, and I started looking at the best of the best of picture books, and I didn’t realize that many of them really combined amazing art with amazing poetry and writing.”
As his love and appreciation for the medium grew, Michelson saw an opportunity to make the gallery a space dedicated to showcasing the best work in children’s illustration. A decade into R. Michelson Galleries’ existence, they started the now-annual children’s illustration celebrations.
“Originally no museums at all were interested [in children’s illustrations]. Picture book art was looked at in many ways, the way I originally looked at it, as a second-class citizen in the world of fine art. We didn’t really have a market for it, but I loved some of the work, and we kept showing it, and over time many of our best collectors started seeing the work and collecting it, and museums started taking our calls,” Michelson said. “We’ve been happy over the years to loan works to all of these places, and Western Mass. started becoming really a center of children’s books and illustration.”
Special to this year’s celebration, R. Michelson Galleries will honor Jane Yolen’s life and career. “Jane Yolen: In Her Own Words” will showcase a fraction of her more than 400 published illustrated books.
The celebration will feature many of the best children’s illustrators, from those with undeniable legacies to new and up-and-coming illustrators of today, and reflects what Michelson called the collective talent and collaboration of the industry’s best illustrators.
Michelson expressed gratitude to the artists past and present working in the children’s illustration field and said it has been an honor to help create a space that has become the hub for the art form.
“In many ways, it’s almost more important than fine art because it is often children’s first exposure to art, and children deserve the very best artists,” Michelson said. “They deserve to be able to see what’s out there, and what they grew up with will stay with them throughout their lives, especially in this world today where visual literacy is so important. It’s nice to give children a base and see what art can do and how it can change their lives.”
Michelson added that he is looking forward to another great turnout for the celebration and encouraged art lovers of all ages to stop by — whether for the celebration itself or the following period when the exhibits will remain up — and appreciate the great works in children’s illustration.
“There’s nothing second class about it. We are honored to show the very best of the work, and like everything else there’s wonderful art in children’s books and some art that’s not very wonderful, just as there’s wonderful art in museums and art that is not as wonderful. We are working with really the premier illustrators of our time, so it’s been great to see how it grows,” Michelson said.
