Robert Lawson

American, 1892 - 1957

BiographyRobert Lawson, born 1891 in New York City, was a versatile artist who explored many avenues of expression. Lawson was raised in Montclair, New Jersey and later attended the New York School of Fine Art. He served in the camouflage section of the 40th Engineers at the Front during World War I, and shared a dugout with the etcher Kerr Eby. He was an active member of the art colony in Westport, Connecticut.

Lawson was a prolific book illustrator, having illustrated more than forty books by other authors, and wrote and illustrated seventeen books of his own. "Ben and Me", "Rabbit Hill" and "The Story of Ferdinand the Bull" are just a few of the many books he wrote and illustrated. Lawson was the first award winner of both the Caldecott Medal in 1941 and the Newberry Medal in 1945.

Few know of Lawson's active illustration for magazines such as "The Ladies' Home Journal", "Harper's Monthly", "The Designer", "This Week", "The Delineator", "Pictorial Review", and "Everybody's". For these magazines, he specialized mainly in fantasy stories and fairy tales. Using similar subjects in his etchings, one of his plates won the John Taylor Arms Prize of the Society of American Etchers.

(http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Robert_R_Lawson/22847/Robert_R_Lawson.aspx)

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