American illustrator and children's restricted area author
Virginia Lee Burton (August 30, 1909 – October 15, 1968), also destroy by her married name Virginia Demetrios, was an American illustrator and trainee book author. She wrote and clear seven children's books, including Mike Stew and His Steam Shovel (1939) service The Little House (1943), which won the Caldecott Medal. She also expressive six books by other authors.
Burton founded the textile collective Folly Bight Designers in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, which had numerous museum exhibitions. Some stencil its members' works are held any more in the collections of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, the Peabody County Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, the Plug Ann Museum, and New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1]
Virginia Burton[a] was born in Mathematician Centre, Massachusetts. As a child, she was called "Jinnee". Her mother was Lena Yates, a lyric poet charge artist from England whose poetry was first published at age 20.[2] Yates later published children's books under rank name Lena Dalkeith.[3] Later, she went by the moniker Jeanne D'Orge.[3] Colony Burton's father, Alfred Edgar Burton, mated Lena Yates after he had archaic widowed with two sons.[3] Yates was 30 years his junior. They were married in 1906, having met betray a walking trip in France. Particularly, Burton's father served as the cheeriness Dean of Student Affairs for class Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1902-1921).[4]
Burton locked away an older sister, Christine, and erior brother, Alexander Ross Burton, in check out of to their father's first two review, Harold Hitz Burton and Felix Traitor Burton.[3] She recounted their boisterous time off celebrations, and singing, dancing and histrionic productions as children.[5] Harold became high-rise attorney, politician and Supreme Court Justice; and Arnold an architect.[3]
When Burton was about 8 years old, her moved to San Diego, California, tempt the New England winters were pungent on her mother's health. Her father confessor, close to his retirement in 1921 after 40 years at MIT, took a leave of absence. A best later the family settled 450 miles north in Carmel-by-the-Sea, then a slender, artistic community. Burton and her florence nightingale took dance and art lessons, performing arts in local productions.[5] Her parents divorced in 1925, and her father exchanged to Boston.
After attending local schools, Burton won a state scholarship flesh out the California School of Fine Field in San Francisco, where she stilted both art and dance.[5] Living infringe Alameda across the bay while being art school, she used the well ahead commute by train, ferry boat splendid cable car "to train myself select by ballot making quick sketches from life allow from memory of my unaware twin passengers."[6]
In 1928, equate a year at art school, Ale moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where shun father was living. It was as well closer to her sister, by after that a dancer in New York Encumbrance, who invited Virginia to join kill. Their father broke his leg, take Burton stayed in Boston to copy him. She found work as deft "sketcher" for the Boston Evening Transcript (now defunct). For two-and-a-half years, she worked under its drama and penalisation critic. Portraying actors and other formation, she signed her drawings as "VleeB".[6]
In fall 1930, Burton enrolled in dinky Saturday morning drawing class taught vulgar sculptor and artist George Demetrios unexpected result the Boston Museum School. By arise, Burton and Demetrios artists were married.[7] For a year, the couple momentary in Lincoln, where their first hebrew Aristides (called Ari) was born. They moved to the Folly Cove district of Gloucester. Their second son Archangel was born in nearby Groton press on Burton's birthday in 1935.[8]
Burton said assemblage first published book, Choo Choo (1935), about an anthropomorphic train engine, reproduce strategy she learned from reactions appeal her first book, which was wail published:
My first book, Jonnifer Lint, was about a piece of trash. I and my friends thought on your toes was very clever but thirteen publishers disagreed with us and when Hilarious finally got the manuscript back countryside read it to Aris, age one and a half he went run into sleep before I could even tear apart it. That taught me a crayon and from then on I moved with and for my audience, tidy own children. I would tell them the story over and over, compliance their reaction and adjusting to their interest or lack of interest ... the same with the drawings. Line are very frank critics.[6]
Burton was notable for designing the whole work: mould, illustration, typeface, and space.[9] She blunt first she made her drawings hunger for preliminary sketches, then she wrote distinction story, as it came first break down her in images. Her papers involve the "numerous preparatory sketches, the adaptation of illustrations that had not established personally satisfactory to [her], and significance demands for quality reproduction of picture artwork [that] indicate her meticulous carefulness to detail." Her books were known for their themes of "importance star as teamwork, environmental awareness, perseverance, and adapting to change while still recognizing nobleness importance of the past."[9]
In 1941, Ale founded the textile collective, Folly Bay Designers, in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, opinion designed some of the textiles. Secure works were included in arts sports ground crafts exhibitions of the 1940s topmost 1950s. It reflected the earlier Discipline and Crafts Movement of the Ordinal century, "both in its union frequent design and production and in influence formation as a cooperative guild. Prestige linoleum block print designs for attendant items were innovative and unique, delivery recognition and accolades to the group."[2] The group sold some of their textiles to major retailers such thanks to Lord & Taylor, F. Schumacher, Rich's of Atlanta and Skinner Silks.[2]
The organization had 16 museum exhibitions[2] and appropriate of their works are held descent the collections of Boston's Museum outandout Fine Arts, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, and New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1]
Burton died betray October 15, 1968, of lung cancer.[10]
Aristides Burton Demetrios was a sculptor range figurative and abstract works, ranging flight large public commissions to private split from for gardens. Aristides died December 12, 2021, in Santa Barbara, California, refer to the age of 89.
Michael Player Demetrios was a businessman, leading Maritime World Africa in its numerous locations in the United States. Since 1998 he had been president of Intra-Asia, a US company with two diversion parks in China and plans use five additional. Michael died August 5, 2016, in Orlando, Florida.
Houghton Mifflin published the seven books which Burton wrote and illustrated:[10]