Garth Montgomery Williams (April 16, 1912 - May 8, 1996) was a prominent American illustrator known for his work on children's books. He was 84 years old when he died.
Garth Williams grew up on farms in New Jersey and Canada. When he was 10, he and his family moved to the United Kingdom. He studied architecture and worked for a time as an architect's assistant. But when the Great Depression came he made up his mind to be an artist instead of an architect. He began his studies at Westminster School of Art in 1929 and in 1931 was awarded a four-year scholarship to the Royal College of Art. He was awarded the Prix de Rome which supported further study there. During World War II he served on an ambulance with the British Red Cross Civilian Defense. Upon his return to the United States he drew illustrations for The New Yorker for a short period of time.
In the latter part of his life he lived primarily in Marfil, a small town west of Guanajuato, Mexico. He was part of a colony of ex-patriates who built or rebuilt homes in the ruins of the silver mills of colonial Mexico. He was an excellent guitar and occasional banjo player, and told stories of busking in London during his art school tenure.
He was married to Leticia and together they had five daughters: Fiona, Bettina, Jessica, Estyn and Dilys, and a son: Dylan.
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Books written by other authors and illustrated by Garth Williams
Garth Williams illustrated E. B. White's first two children's novels: Stuart Little in 1945 and Charlotte's Web in 1952.
In the early 1950s, he teamed with Margaret Wise Brown on several Little Golden Books including Mister Dog and Sailor Dog. He also provided illustrations for her 1946 book, Little Fur Family.
Garth Williams illustrated the first four of Margery Sharp's series featuring the mouse Miss Bianca and her team of "rescuers"- "The Rescuers", "Miss Bianca", etc. In newer editions of the books, Garth Williams' original illustrations have been overwhelmed by the Disney cartoon illustrations.
In 1953, Williams illustrated new editions of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series of books.
In 1960, he illustrated George Selden's The Cricket in Times Square.
Perhaps his most beautiful and fanciful illustrations can be found in The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies by Jane Werner (1951).
Books written and illustrated by Garth Williams
Garth Williams wrote and illustrated a controversial story called The Rabbit's Wedding. The book was banned because of its perceived theme of interracial love. The story was about a black rabbit marrying a white rabbit. Some have noted the obvious logic of illustrating the rabbits with two different colors so the reader might tell them apart more readily. Others, in their quest to depoliticize the book, have claimed a perception of the black and white motif as, perhaps, a reference to Yin and yang (i.e. male and female, though, inconsistently, the color-to-gender associations in the book are reversed.)
Jonathon Green, in The Encyclopedia of Censorship (Facts on File, 1990) [1], wrote:
The Rabbit's Wedding, by Garth Williams, was transferred from the open shelves to the reserved shelves at the Montgomery (Alabama) Public Library in 1959 because an illustration shows a black buck rabbit with a white doe rabbit. Such miscegenation, stated an editor in Orlando, was "brainwashing . . . as soon as you pick up the book and open its pages you realize these rabbits are integrated." The Montgomery Home News added that the book was integrationist propaganda obviously aimed at children in their formative years.
About the controversy, Williams stated, "I was completely unaware that animals with white fur, such as white polar bears and white dogs and white rabbits, were considered blood relations of white beings. I was only aware that a white horse next to a black horse looks very picturesque." Williams said his story was not written for adults, who "will not understand it, because it is only about a soft furry love and has no hidden message of hate." [2]
Williams also wrote and illustrated the not-so-controversial Baby Farm Animals, Adventures of Benjamin Pink, Benjamin's Treasure and Baby's First Book.
- ^ http://www.factsonfile.com/newfacts/FactsDetail.asp?PageValue=Books&SIDText=0816044643&LeftID=0
- ^ " 'RACIAL RABBITS' IRK ALABAMANS" Cuba Counter-Revolt Plot Nipped May 22, 1959 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/files/1959_0522_mirror_cover.jpg
Further reading
- "Williams, Garth (Montgomery) 1912-." Something About the Author. 66:228-235.
External links
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