Anita Kunz
Encyclopedia
Anita E. Kunz, OC
(born 1956) is a Canadian-born
artist
and illustrator
.
Kunz has lived in London, New York
and Toronto
, contributing to magazines and working for design firms, book publishers and advertising agencies in Germany, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Canada, South Africa, Holland, Portugal, France and England. Her clients include Time
magazine, Rolling Stone
, Vanity Fair
, The New Yorker
, GQ
, The New York Times
, Sony Music, Random House Publishing and many others. From 1988 to 1990 she was one of two artists chosen by Rolling Stone magazine to produce a monthly illustrated History of Rock 'n Roll end paper. She has produced cover art for many magazines including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated
, Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times Magazine. She has also illustrated more than fifty book jacket covers.
Anita frequently teaches workshops and lectures at universities and institutions internationally including the Smithsonian Institution
and the Corcoran College of Art and Design
in Washington DC. Her summer workshops are conducted at the Illustration Academy in Sarasota, Florida
, and at the Masters of Art degree program at Syracuse University
. She has been honored with many prestigious awards and medals and her critically acclaimed paintings and sculptures have appeared in galleries world wide, including the Norman Rockwell Museum
in Massachusetts and the Teatrio Cultural Association in Rome, Italy. Her works are in the permanent collections at the Library of Congress
, the Archives of Canada in Ottawa
, the Musèe Militaire de France in Paris
, the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Rome
, and a number of her Time Magazine cover paintings are in the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery
in Washington DC. In 1987 she showed a collection of her works at Canada House
in Trafalgar Square
, London
. In 1997 she had a one woman show at the Foreign Press office in New York City
; in 1998 she had a solo show at the Creation Gallery in Tokyo
; and the Society of Illustrators
Museum of American Illustration mounted a mid-career retrospective of her work in the fall of 2000. In the fall of 2003 she was the first woman and the first Canadian to have a solo show at the Library of Congress
in Washington DC. In 2000 she was invited to speak as one of The New Yorker magazine cover artists at the annual New Yorker Festival in New York and in 2001 and again in 2004, she was invited to speak at ideaCity, a think tank of luminaries from the fields of medicine, politics, science and the arts in Toronto. From 2000 to 2003 she served on the Board of Directors of the Illustration conference. In 2004 she served as chair for the Society of Illustrators
Museum of American Illustration annual exhibit and she is currently serving as chair of the Museum Committee there. In 1997 she received the Les Usherwood
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Advertising and Design Club of Canada. Anita was recently named one of the fifty most influential women in Canada by the National Post
newspaper. She is currently preparing for a one woman show to be held in Turin, Italy in 2008.
Articles about her work have appeared in Graphis and Novumgebrauchsgrafik magazines (Switzerland), Communication Arts and Step by Step magazine (USA), Idea, Illustration and Creation magazines (Japan), Applied Arts (Canada), Nuvo (Canada) and The Design Journal (Korea).
In 2009, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
"for her contributions as an illustrator whose insightful works have graced publications around the world".
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born 1956) is a Canadian-born
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
.
Kunz has lived in London, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, contributing to magazines and working for design firms, book publishers and advertising agencies in Germany, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Canada, South Africa, Holland, Portugal, France and England. Her clients include Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, GQ
GQ (magazine)
GQ is a monthly men's magazine focusing on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Sony Music, Random House Publishing and many others. From 1988 to 1990 she was one of two artists chosen by Rolling Stone magazine to produce a monthly illustrated History of Rock 'n Roll end paper. She has produced cover art for many magazines including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times Magazine. She has also illustrated more than fifty book jacket covers.
Anita frequently teaches workshops and lectures at universities and institutions internationally including the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and the Corcoran College of Art and Design
Corcoran College of Art and Design
The Corcoran College of Art and Design, , founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and...
in Washington DC. Her summer workshops are conducted at the Illustration Academy in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
, and at the Masters of Art degree program at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
. She has been honored with many prestigious awards and medals and her critically acclaimed paintings and sculptures have appeared in galleries world wide, including the Norman Rockwell Museum
Norman Rockwell Museum
The Norman Rockwell Museum is home to the world's largest collection of original Rockwell art.-History:Founded in 1969, the museum is located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Rockwell lived the last 25 years of his life. The museum has been at its current location since 1993. The museum...
in Massachusetts and the Teatrio Cultural Association in Rome, Italy. Her works are in the permanent collections at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, the Archives of Canada in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, the Musèe Militaire de France in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome is a municipal art museum located in the north-east of Rome, Italy, on Via Reggio Emilia.-History:The project began in the late 1990s over the site old factories Peroni...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and a number of her Time Magazine cover paintings are in the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery
National Portrait Gallery (United States)
The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in Washington, D.C., administered by the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous individual Americans.-Building:...
in Washington DC. In 1987 she showed a collection of her works at Canada House
Canada House
The High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom in London is the diplomatic mission from Canada to the United Kingdom. It is housed in two buildings in London.-History:...
in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1997 she had a one woman show at the Foreign Press office in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; in 1998 she had a solo show at the Creation Gallery in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
; and the Society of Illustrators
Society of Illustrators
The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the mission of the Society is to promote the art and appreciation of illustration, as well as its history...
Museum of American Illustration mounted a mid-career retrospective of her work in the fall of 2000. In the fall of 2003 she was the first woman and the first Canadian to have a solo show at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
in Washington DC. In 2000 she was invited to speak as one of The New Yorker magazine cover artists at the annual New Yorker Festival in New York and in 2001 and again in 2004, she was invited to speak at ideaCity, a think tank of luminaries from the fields of medicine, politics, science and the arts in Toronto. From 2000 to 2003 she served on the Board of Directors of the Illustration conference. In 2004 she served as chair for the Society of Illustrators
Society of Illustrators
The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the mission of the Society is to promote the art and appreciation of illustration, as well as its history...
Museum of American Illustration annual exhibit and she is currently serving as chair of the Museum Committee there. In 1997 she received the Les Usherwood
Les Usherwood
Les Usherwood was born in England, studied in Kent and started his career as a lettering artist. He came to Toronto, Canada in 1957 and worked for various companies until he started Typsettra with David Thompson in 1968...
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Advertising and Design Club of Canada. Anita was recently named one of the fifty most influential women in Canada by the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
newspaper. She is currently preparing for a one woman show to be held in Turin, Italy in 2008.
Articles about her work have appeared in Graphis and Novumgebrauchsgrafik magazines (Switzerland), Communication Arts and Step by Step magazine (USA), Idea, Illustration and Creation magazines (Japan), Applied Arts (Canada), Nuvo (Canada) and The Design Journal (Korea).
In 2009, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
"for her contributions as an illustrator whose insightful works have graced publications around the world".