Leonard Everett Fisher
Encyclopedia
Leonard Everett Fisher is an American artist who has illustrated about 260 books for young readers since 1955, authoring 90 of these.
Raised in the Sea Gate
section of Brooklyn
, he began his formal art training with his Brooklyn-born father, Benjamin M. Fisher, a designer of naval vessels, who contributed to the construction of Simon Lake
submarines in Bridgeport, Connecticut
, and such US Navy fighting ships as the "USS Arizona," USS Honolulu", and the "USS North Carolina." Between 1932-1942, Leonard Everett Fisher continued his training at the Heckscher Foundation (NY), with Moses and Raphael Soyer
(NY), with Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League of New York
, and Serge Chermayeff
at Brooklyn College
. He is a graduate of Yale University
(1949, MFA 1950).
(DC), the Smithsonian Institution
's National Museum of Postal History (DC), the New York Public Library
(Donnell), the New Britain Museum of American Art
(CT), the Butler Art Institute (OH), Mount Holyoke
(MA), Bluffton (OH), and Union (NY) colleges, the Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration (NY), the Housatonic Museum of Art
(CT), the Norwalk Transportation Authority (CT), Brown University
(RI), Mazza Museum of Findlay University (OH), the universities of Connecticut, Appalachia State (NC), Oklahoma
, Minnesota
, Oregon
, and Southern Mississippi.
, Chadds Ford (PA), the Art Institute of Chicago
(IL), the Rochester Institute of Technology
(NY), the Buell Museum (CO), among others.
(1942–1946), he served at home and overseas with the US Army's 30th Engineer Topographic Battalion, participating in the tactical mapping of Mediterranean, European and Pacific Ocean invasions and campaigns.
Education
Following the war he attended the Yale School of Art
receiving BFA and MFA degrees (1949,1950), the John Ferguson Weir Prize, and William Wirt Winchester Traveling Fellowship.
; the 1979 Medallion of The University of Southern Mississippi
; the 1991 Kerlan Award of the University of Minnesota; the 1991 Regina Medal
of the Catholic Library Association; a National Jewish Book Award (1980); the Christopher Medal for Illustration (1981); and the American Library Association
's 1994 Arbuthnot Citation, and Westport's (CT) Lifetime Achievement Award for the Visual Arts, among others. He formerly served on the advisory board of the master of fine arts program of Western Connecticut State University
; is a member of the Low Committee of the New Britain Museum of American Art (CT); and is dean emeritus of the Paier College of Art
(CT). He is a member of the Society of Illustrators
(NY), P.E.N.; and the Authors Guild. In addition he is a Lifetime Member of both the Silvermine Guild of Artists (CT) and the New Haven Paint and Clay Club (CT).
He lives in Westport, Connecticut
with his wife, Margery, a retired school librarian, and member of New York's Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee. They are the parents of three children and the grandparents of six.
Raised in the Sea Gate
Seagate, Brooklyn
Sea Gate is a private, gated community at the far western end of Coney Island at the southwestern tip of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It contains mostly single-family homes, some directly on Gravesend Bay...
section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, he began his formal art training with his Brooklyn-born father, Benjamin M. Fisher, a designer of naval vessels, who contributed to the construction of Simon Lake
Simon Lake
Simon Lake was a Quaker American mechanical engineer and naval architect who obtained over two hundred patents for advances in naval design and competed with John Philip Holland to build the first submarines for the United States Navy.Born in Pleasantville, New Jersey, Lake joined his father's...
submarines in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, and such US Navy fighting ships as the "USS Arizona," USS Honolulu", and the "USS North Carolina." Between 1932-1942, Leonard Everett Fisher continued his training at the Heckscher Foundation (NY), with Moses and Raphael Soyer
Raphael Soyer
Raphael Soyer was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter...
(NY), with Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
, and Serge Chermayeff
Serge Chermayeff
Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
. He is a graduate of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(1949, MFA 1950).
Writings
- Blackbeard's Last Fight
- Colonial American (19 volumes)
- Cyclops
- The Death of Evening Star
- Don Quixote and the Windmills
- The Great Wall of China
- Theseus and the Minotaur
- William Tell
Other works
Fisher has also designed 10 United States postage stamps including 8 Bicentennial issues, 1975 Stamped Envelope Liberty Tree and the 1978 commemorative "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." He is also a noted painter.Collections
His paintings, drawings and illustrations are in the collections of the Library of CongressLibrary 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...
(DC), 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...
's National Museum of Postal History (DC), the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
(Donnell), the New Britain Museum of American Art
New Britain Museum of American Art
The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art....
(CT), the Butler Art Institute (OH), Mount Holyoke
Mount Holyoke
Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation , is the western-most peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in...
(MA), Bluffton (OH), and Union (NY) colleges, the Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration (NY), the Housatonic Museum of Art
Housatonic Museum of Art
The Housatonic Museum of Art is a museum at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The museum's collection is displayed throughout the college campus and in the Burt Chernow Galleries, which also hosts visiting exhibitions.-Collection:...
(CT), the Norwalk Transportation Authority (CT), Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
(RI), Mazza Museum of Findlay University (OH), the universities of Connecticut, Appalachia State (NC), Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, and Southern Mississippi.
Exhibitions
His art has been seen in exhibitions nationwide including those at the Brandywine River MuseumBrandywine River Museum
The Brandywine River Museum is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine River. The museum showcases the art of Andrew Wyeth a major American realist painter, and his family: his father, N.C...
, Chadds Ford (PA), the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
(IL), the Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...
(NY), the Buell Museum (CO), among others.
Military service
A veteran of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1942–1946), he served at home and overseas with the US Army's 30th Engineer Topographic Battalion, participating in the tactical mapping of Mediterranean, European and Pacific Ocean invasions and campaigns.
Education
Following the war he attended the Yale School of Art
Yale School of Art
The Yale School of Art is one of twelve constituent schools of Yale University. It is a professional art school, granting only Masters of Fine Arts degrees to those completing studies in graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, or sculpture....
receiving BFA and MFA degrees (1949,1950), the John Ferguson Weir Prize, and William Wirt Winchester Traveling Fellowship.
Honors
In 1950 he received the Pulitzer Award for Painting. Among his other honors is the 1968 Premio Grafico Fiera Internazionale di BolognaBologna Children's Book Fair
The Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world.Since 1963, it is held yearly for four days in March or April in Bologna, Italy...
; the 1979 Medallion of The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, informally known as Southern Miss, is a large public research university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. It is situated north of Gulfport, Mississippi and northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana...
; the 1991 Kerlan Award of the University of Minnesota; the 1991 Regina Medal
Regina Medal
The Regina Medal is an American Literary award of the Catholic Library Association. It was established in 1959 to recognize "continued, distinguished contribution to children’s literature without regard to the nature of the contribution"....
of the Catholic Library Association; a National Jewish Book Award (1980); the Christopher Medal for Illustration (1981); and the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
's 1994 Arbuthnot Citation, and Westport's (CT) Lifetime Achievement Award for the Visual Arts, among others. He formerly served on the advisory board of the master of fine arts program of Western Connecticut State University
Western Connecticut State University
Western Connecticut State University is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, WestConn has an arts and sciences curriculum, a business school, and several professional programs including elementary and secondary education, nursing, music performance, and social work...
; is a member of the Low Committee of the New Britain Museum of American Art (CT); and is dean emeritus of the Paier College of Art
Paier College of Art
The Paier College of Art is a private 4-year art school in Hamden, Connecticut, on the outskirts of the greater New Haven area. Formerly the Paier School of Art, the institution's current name and form date from 1982 when it received a charter and accreditation for offering a 4-year Bachelor of...
(CT). He is a member of 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...
(NY), P.E.N.; and the Authors Guild. In addition he is a Lifetime Member of both the Silvermine Guild of Artists (CT) and the New Haven Paint and Clay Club (CT).
He lives in Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
with his wife, Margery, a retired school librarian, and member of New York's Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee. They are the parents of three children and the grandparents of six.