Children know Maira Kalman for her series of Max storybooks, adults for her New Yorker covers and the gotta-have-it illustrated version of the Elements of Style -- simple proof that her sensibility blends a childlike delight with a grownup's wry take on the world.
With her husband, the legendary designer and art director Tibor Kalman, Maira spent several decades designing objets and assembling books like (un)FASHION. But after Tibor's untimely death in 1999, Maira herself became a cultural force. Her colorful, faux-naif illustrations -- and her very perspective -- tap a desire in all of us to look at the world the way she does.
Her latest book, The Principles of Uncertainty, is perhaps the most complete expression of Maira's worldview. Based on a monthly blog she kept for the New York Times website for one year, it is filled with carefully observed moments and briskly captured thoughts, an omnivore's view of life in the modern world.
As the Cooper Hewitt opens its doors after a three-year renovation, we take a look at what the curators have put together -- including an exhibit put together by Maira Kalman and technology from Local Projects.
Continue readingWho else but Maira Kalman would come up with a series of images dedicated to "girls standing on lawns"? Here, the artist explains her fascination with the subject matter, and shares some of her favorite paintings.
Continue readingIn the middle of a tense morning session – you know, just waiting for NSA deputy director Rick Ledgett to come online, ain’t no thing — illustrator Maira Kalman comes up to tell a lovely family tale about music and pants. In 1932 when Kalman’s family left their village in Belarus (“you can say they […]
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