Ideas worth spreading

The illustrated woman

856,025 views | Maira Kalman • TED2007

Author and illustrator Maira Kalman talks about her life and work, from her covers for The New Yorker to her books for children and grown-ups. She is as wonderful, as wise and as deliciously off-kilter in person as she is on paper.

Author and illustrator Maira Kalman talks about her life and work, from her covers for The New Yorker to her books for children and grown-ups. She is as wonderful, as wise and as deliciously off-kilter in person as she is on paper.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Maira Kalman

Multidisciplinary artist

See speaker profile

Maira Kalman's wise, witty artworks have appeared on numberless New Yorker covers, in dozens of her own books and in many museums around the world.

Maira Kalman | Puffin, 2003 | Book

What Pete Ate From A-Z

William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White | Illustrations by Maira Kalman Penguin Books, 2007 | Book

The Elements of Style

Michael Pollan | Illustrations by Maira Kalman Penguin Press, 2011 | Book

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

Maira Kalman | Nancy Paulsen Books, 2012 | Book

Looking at Lincoln

Daniel Handler | Illustrations by Maira Kalman Little, Brown Books, 2013 | Book

Why We Broke Up

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.