Abner Graboff
Who was Abner Graboff? I had no idea. So, I decided to find out on my own.
Artist, illustrator & designer with a career that spanned several decades, from the 1940’s to the 80’s, Abner was best known for creating some of the most ingenious and vibrant children’s books during the mid-century era. But you’d never know it. There was practically nothing on the guy if you did a search online. It was frustrating for me, because I felt that his sense of construction and concepts when it came to designing children’s books was so fresh and bold. Surely there had to be something about the artist out there, right? Nope. Nothing. So I contacted his son, musician and producer Jon Graboff, and interviewed him about his father’s background, his influences, and overall career. The result of our conversations can be found on my blog in three posts:
Who was Abner Graboff?
The Art & Life of Abner Graboff Part 1
The Art & Life of Abner Graboff Part 2
Featuring scans from some of his kid’s books, cook book illustrations, jacket cover designs, as well as family photos. Jon’s been very cool in sharing with us his father’s fascinating life & career as an artist. A quote by Jon about his father says it all for me:
“He was artistically and intellectually curious by nature and he was always saying things like, I wonder why… I think that he believed that when you stop asking why, when, where, and what’s next… it’s all over.”
Who was Abner Graboff? Now, we can know.
More on Abner can be found here:
My Abner Graboff Flickr set
Abner Graboff in The Retro Kid
Abner Graboff on Biotope (Japanese site)
Wow….thanks for sharing, Ward.
I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, so it’s great to get to know the man behind the work.
Great work Ward! I have a few of his books (most of ‘em are beyond my budget) and they’re all utterly fantastic. A real hero and a true inspiration.
excellent, excelentisimo!!!!
Is it me or are there no more Google Reader updates? D:
Anyway, this is too awesome for words *_*