Charles Santore: Fifty Years of Art and Storytelling

Charles Santore Fifty Years of Art and Storytelling

WoodmereArtMuseum

FUNDING CREDITS?

Charles Santore Fifty Years of Art and Storytelling

CONTENTS

Foreword 2 A Conversation with Charles Santore 4 Selected Chronology 48 Works in the Exhibition 58

February 17–May 13, 2018

WoodmereArtMuseum

FOREWORD

It is no exaggeration to say that Charles Santore’s

Woodmere is pleased that Santore has become

work is known by hundreds of millions of people. A

part of the Museum’s family, and we are grateful

favored artist of media mogul Walter Annenberg,

to him for generously sharing his work, answering

Santore produced cover illustrations for TV

questions, and assisting in all aspects of organizing

Guide that helped define the graphic aesthetic

the exhibition. We are also honored that he

of American art in the 1970s and ’80s. More

entrusted the Museum with the stewardship of

recently, he has become one of the most popular

many important works of art. Peter Paone and

illustrators of children’s books in the United States.

Lita Solis-Cohen, members of Woodmere’s

His technique as a draftsman and watercolorist

Collections Management Committee, brought

is flawless, and as a storyteller he brings out the

Santore’s work to our attention, and we thank

human complexity of characters like Dorothy Gale,

them for their enthusiasm and for the gift of the

Paul Revere, Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White.

introduction. Rachel McCay, Woodmere’s Assistant

Disney and Hollywood have created standardized

Curator, organized the exhibition together with

versions of these characters that circulate in

Rick Ortwein, Deputy Director for Exhibitions, who

popular culture; Santore’s accomplishment is to

designed the installation. Thank you all.

make us see them with fresh eyes. Woodmere is honored to present Charles Santore: Fifty Years of

WILLIAM R. VALERIO, PHD

Art and Storytelling, an overview of the career of

The Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and Chief

a virtuoso artist whose creativity has evolved with

Executive Officer

the times.

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Charles Santore in his studio, 2018. Photograph by Ralph Giguere

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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A CONVERSATION WITH CHARLES SANTORE

On November 14, 2017, William Valerio, the Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and Chief Executive Office; Rachel McCay, Assistant Curator; and Hildy Tow, the Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Curator of Education, sat down with Charles Santore to discuss his career and body of work.

WILLIAM VALERIO: Woodmere is excited to be

SANTORE: Yes, when I work with a model it’s just

working with you on this career retrospective and

what I see in front of me. With a book, however,

we’d like to talk about your biography and life story.

it’s different; there’s a choreography of multiple

A good place to start in an exhibition is with a self-

images that comes into play. I think of ballet, really.

portrait, and you have one that is special. What’s

I think of music. That’s why I start with little dummy

really nice about it is that you appear to be a person

books, because I like to choreograph the story and

of your time there: the mustache, the sweater,

my compositions have to make sense in dynamic

even the expression is very much of the 1970s. You

relation to each other. They are part of a sequence

present yourself as a regular guy, a Philadelphian.

with a beginning, middle, and end. When I started

Do you see that?

my career as an illustrator, I did advertising and

CHARLES SANTORE: Yes, I’m starting to see

it these days, and again yes, this self-portrait is from 1972. In the early seventies, whenever I had the opportunity, when I wasn’t working on a commission, I would do a still life or a figure study, bring somebody in or paint myself from the mirror.

Even today, making studies from life—dealing with objects in space and light as it falls across those objects—informs my pictures and makes my illustration better. When I get back to illustration I have a larger vocabulary to work with.

VALERIO: In your introduction to Alice’s Adventures

in Wonderland, you describe how you worked with a model, a little girl, as your figure for Alice. Was that process coming out of this period of experimentation in the 1970s when you started painting from life?

then magazine illustration. It wasn’t until I did the first book that I realized that what I’d been doing all those years is really poster illustration, because whatever idea, whatever you’re selling, has to be summed up in one vision. You produce a single, iconic image, it’s absorbed, and people move on. In 1985, when I started doing books, when I did Peter Rabbit, I realized that a long narrative meant that all the pictures didn’t have to jump off the page at the viewer. They could be quiet. They could move along and build up to a climax. They could build and then go back down, like composing a piece of music or a ballet.

VALERIO: When you’re given the assignment, for

example, to capture The Jeffersons TV show in one picture for TV Guide, do you have to ask yourself, how do I do that? If I have to distill it down to one image, what elements have to be included?

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Self-Portrait, 1972, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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Left: The Jeffersons: Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, and Paul Benedict, for TV Guide, 1978, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017) Below: Sanford and Son: Redd Foxx, for TV Guide, 1976, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

SANTORE: Exactly. I would watch The Jeffersons

SANTORE: That’s why I put Louise’s hand there

over and over again and start to see the essence of

with all the rings, and she wears gold clothing

the show. That total synthesis can be relaxed when

like the jewelry, a sign of wealth. She laughs, and

you’re doing a book. It’s a whole different thing.

George makes that expression that was typical

VALERIO: You’ve chosen to depict George and

Louise Jefferson and the relationship between them, and then there’s the neighbor who represents their interaction with the world, specifically the white world, right? The whole idea is that they are a successful, wealthy black family, and they’ve moved to uptown Manhattan.

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of his character; the white guy, the neighbor, he’s the referee. There’s this sort of interface between George and Louise and he looms in the background behind them. A good example of what you’re saying is when I did the Redd Foxx portrait for Sanford and Son. I think it was the third or fourth TV Guide cover I did. I would do a sketch and send it to TV Guide, they would okay the sketch, and then I would do the

Above: Cover for the March 25–31, 1972 issue of TV Guide, illustration by Charles Santore Left: Columbo: Peter Falk, for TV Guide, 1972, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

finished work. I sent the sketch of Redd Foxx off to

VALERIO: TV Guide was a defining force in

TV Guide and I never heard from them so I did the

American life from the 1950s through the 1970s.

finished piece. I sent them the finished painting and

Gerry Lenfest , owner of TV Guide at the time, tells

it was printed. I got paid and it was on the magazine

me that every issue went to twenty million homes.

cover. One day about six months later I walked into

Twenty million people a week saw this image, so

the studio hallway and there’s an old mailbox on

in a lot of ways—and this is where I was going

the wall that nobody ever used. For some reason I

with the self-portrait of 1972—I think that’s what

looked in the mailbox and there was a little manila

is significant about your work, Charles—you’re an

envelope. I opened it, and there was my sketch

artist whose work contributed to the aesthetic of

with all these corrections on it, saying, “Why is he

that era. I remember seeing these images when I

so dour? This is a comedy show.” I had never seen

was a kid. There’s an incredible force and power in

this note, but from then on I never sent in another

that. How did you get started at TV Guide?

preparatory sketch for TV Guide. I would just submit the finished painting for each assignment.

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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The Godfather Is Reborn (interior): Francis Ford Coppola and Marlon Brando, for TV Guide, 1977, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

SANTORE: Columbo was the first cover I did. I was

it looks just like Peter Falk.” Then the door opens

doing a lot of work for N. W. Ayer and Gray and

and the assistant editor comes in, a big, lumbering

Rogers in Philadelphia and many of the magazines

man. He lumbers over to the couch, looks, and says,

in New York, and Jerry Alten, TV Guide’s art director,

“I hate the goddamn thing,” turns around and walks

called me. I never solicited TV Guide, I never went

out. I started laughing and I said to Jerry, “When

there with a portfolio, he just called me. He gave me

the circus is over, give me a call.” I got up and

the assignment for Columbo and when I finished

walked out. He called me later and said, “I finally

I brought the painting to TV Guide—they were in

sold it to him, but I had to change the color in the

Radnor at the time—and he ushered me into the

background.” So, if you look at the actual TV Guide,

editor’s office. The editor’s name was Merrill Panitt.

he had to change the background color to please

It was a big office, and Panitt was sitting pretty far

Panitt.

away from me, Jerry’s standing behind me with his hand on the chair, and the portrait is across the room on a couch. Panitt says, “I hate that goddamn color in the background.”

VALERIO: The bright pink?

VALERIO: To me that pink color has a lot of snap

to it.

SANTORE: Yeah, for me too. When Walter

Annenberg created TV Guide in 1953, the men who worked there were hardboiled newspapermen he

SANTORE: Yeah, so I didn’t say anything. Jerry

brought over from the Philadelphia Inquirer. They

said, “But it looks just like Peter Falk.” And Panitt

knew nothing about art. Jerry had to do a kind of

said, “Why is his hand so big?” I said, “Because it’s

a dance with these people in order to sell them

between the viewer and him.” And Jerry said, “But

anything, and he really handled it well. He was like

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chronological presentation of the movie and reedited it all while in the jungle. That’s the reason for my second picture of Coppola that ran on the editorial page. The cover image shows Michael seated like Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.

VALERIO: Was the Italian community in

Philadelphia proud of you for doing these images?

SANTORE: Oh my God—I did five hundred

prints because my brother wanted some for his restaurant and other people wanted one. They were lithographs, I believe. I don’t remember the printer, but they sold out like that. People ask me all the time, “Why don’t you do it again?” I say, “No, I did a limited edition. I did 500 prints and that’s it.” It was very popular.

TV Guide had one real problem. They sold twenty million magazines a week but they were small, only The Godfather: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro, for TV Guide, 1977, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

a few inches high by a few inches wide. Advertisers were reluctant to spend all that money for so small a space. So, TV Guide took out full-page

a bullfighter, you know—he knew when to put the

newspaper ads in the Wall Street Journal, the New

cape on. So, I had a great relationship with Jerry

York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and so on,

after that. I never had to deal with the editors

about why it was editorially significant to advertise

anymore; I just dealt with Jerry and I kept doing the

in their magazine. I did many of these ads. Here’s

pictures.

something that will be interesting relative to the events of today: a full-page ad I did for TV Guide

VALERIO: I love your images of The Godfather.

that I call the “bear ad.” It shows how the Russians

These were made for TV Guide when it was

were manipulating the American media with their

determined that there would be a chronological

propaganda.

presentation of the different storylines that are intermingled in the Godfather movies, which I remember was on TV. Now I think it’s a violation of the integrity of the movie.

VALERIO: Wow! Sounds eerily familiar!

SANTORE: Yeah. Ronald Reagan loved it. Russia

was a priority for him. He felt himself a match for

SANTORE: Francis Ford Coppola was in the jungle

Gorbachev. It was a time of KGB disinformation.

making Apocalypse Now at the time. So, they had

When the copywriters at N. W. Ayer, who were then

to send him all the footage and he agreed to the

handling the TV Guide account, sent me the copy

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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TV Guide newspaper ad, c. 1985, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

and headline for the ad, their job was finished. I

the president responded to the timeless phrase, “A

supplied the visual, in this case the image of the

picture is worth a thousand words.”

bear. I think what the president reacted to was my choice to portray a large, ponderous Russian bear having his way with a generic, almost anemic network anchorman. Keep in mind, none of the people at Ayer or TV Guide had any image at all when they sent me the copy. The graphics convey an overwhelming threat to a free press and I think 10

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Walter Annenberg called me and he said, “The president loves that.” I said, “Yeah?” I was waiting for the shoe to drop, and he said, “He would really love to have it.” And I thought to myself, “Well, are you going to buy it?” He said, “Yeah, he would really love to have it.” I thought, well, he’s asking me to donate it. I said, “Okay, you can give it to him.” So he sent

his limousine, and I gave him the drawing. Then,

working relationship for about ten years, but then

about two months later, one of my black-and-white

books became my priority and I wasn’t so interested

reproductions was accepted in the annual Society

in doing magazine work anymore.

of Illustrators show. I called N. W. Ayer and I said, “I

With advertising illustration, very often if you give

need that drawing back, for the show.” They said,

the directors more in an image than they need to

“Can’t do that—the president has it.” I said, “I don’t

get their point across, they don’t want it. Many

care if the president has it, I need the drawing for

illustrators—I could even say most illustrators at

the show.” Nobody from the agency would call, so

the time—wanted to be told exactly what to paint,

I called Walter Annenberg and I got his secretary. I explained the situation, and she said, “When do you need it?” I said, “I could use it within the week.” Next thing you know, the limousine brought it and I put

because they really wanted a paycheck. They wanted to do a job and get paid. Increasingly, I wasn’t interested in that; it wasn’t me. I became more and more interested in seeing how far I could push myself

the drawing in the show in New York. It was there for a month or so and when it was returned I called and the limousine came to pick it up and bring it back. In the meantime, Walter Annenberg moved to California and became the ambassador to Britain.

Years went by, he came back to Radnor, and I got a call from his secretary: “We were going through Mr. Annenberg’s things and we found this picture of a Russian bear.” So, it never went back to Reagan. She

as an artist. I wanted to explore whatever the subject was that they gave me, and very often I got myself in trouble with the clients. It got to the point where I almost loved getting up and walking out and telling them to go to hell. I thought that if I couldn’t do it the way I wanted to do it, then I might as well be a bartender or do something else. I wasn’t going to be told what to paint or draw.

said, “You want it?” I said, “Sure.” And they brought

VALERIO: Well, let’s go back to the beginning.

it back to me. For the presentation to Reagan, they

You grew up in the Italian community of South

actually had the type used in the newspaper ad set

Philadelphia, but your family goes back several

right on the drawing, so the original artwork still

generations; your great-grandfather came to

retains this type.

Philadelphia in the 1860s from Buffalo, having sold a successful business there. He bought a big house in

VALERIO: It’s an incredible story.

Philadelphia.

SANTORE: It is. In addition to the work I did for TV

SANTORE: They came to Philadelphia in 1868. I’m

Guide, I did a lot of work for N. W. Ayer. They had

not sure when they got to Buffalo from Italy—it

national accounts, like the French Line, Plymouth,

must have been the 1850s.

De Beers diamonds. I was lucky that Paul Darrow, one of the revered art directors at N. W. Ayer, finally

VALERIO: So they were not part of the big

started giving me some work. I’d gone there two

migration of Italians in the late nineteenth and early

or three times with a portfolio in the 1960s and as

twentieth centuries, people leaving the south of

soon as he started hiring me, other people started

Italy when conditions were very poor and all of the

hiring me. Jerry Alten had probably been aware of

post-unification forces were conspiring against the

my work for N. W. Ayer as well. He and I had a good

regular folk.

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“Little Soul” for Ladies’ Home Journal, mid-1970s, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

SANTORE: There was a community around

VALERIO: I’m guessing it helped that your family

Bainbridge to Catharine Streets, between 6th

owned a building.

and 8th—they all seemed to come from a village right outside Naples called Ruta. It was an Irish neighborhood and the Italians didn’t even have a church; they used to have to borrow the basement of Saint Paul’s Church on Christian Street one night a week. Years later there was a church built on Montrose Street. They all seemed to have come really early, and probably my relatives—my great-grandfather—came from Buffalo because he knew people from the same village in that area of Philadelphia.

SANTORE: We did own a family building, but

when my grandfather died it belonged to twentyfive people. So, my father sort of took care of it and we lived in one of the apartments. My point is that so many of the people I went to art school with, when they got out of school, were concerned with getting a job, working, and getting a check. It never really occurred to me.

I wasn’t interested in that. I began to see that sort of process could become a trap. You get a job, you get married, you buy a house in the

Nobody in my family really ever had a job. They all

suburbs, you even put a little pool outside—before

figured out some way to work for themselves. When

you know it, you’re working to pay for what you

I was growing up, my father worked for himself for

bought, and I never wanted to be in that situation.

a long time. He did finally take a job for the City, but

I always wanted to be able to bail out whenever

then he became union president, so he was his own

the work was not to my liking. That’s why I liked

boss anyway. I’d never even thought about it until

the push and shove of seeing how far I could push

one of my sons said one time, “You know, nobody

the clients to get them to think like I wanted them

in this family ever had a regular job.” He was right!

to think, rather than them imposing their opinions

At the dinner table, there was never a mention of

on me. I would always say things like, “I don’t have

money when I was a child.

a pair of hands to sell you. I have opinions. If you

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He hid with a pair of storks in a nest of twigs, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Ark, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

want to give me your problem, I’ll solve it. If not,

encouraging. There was a parent-teacher meeting

give it to somebody else.”

and my mother said to one of the teachers, “Who

VALERIO: You went to public school in Philadelphia.

did all those nice pictures that are hanging in the hallway?” And the teacher said, “Your son.” My

SANTORE: I went to the Meredith School until

mother had no idea. I was always encouraged by

second grade, then transferred to the Campbell

the teachers in school.

School, an elementary school in the neighborhood. I drew a lot at home and had an aunt who would buy me drawing materials. When I started school the teachers really encouraged me. From a very young age I was always, it seems, doing a frieze. They used to call them friezes in those days. They had these

I went on to Bartlett Junior High School, but there was a lot of racial tension, a lot of fighting. I grew up right where the Fleisher Art Memorial is, but I was never in the building. I would sit on the steps outside with my friends and make fun of the people going into Fleisher, but I would never go in. It was

big rolls of brown paper and teachers would ask me to draw something. One teacher used to spend her vacations in Mexico, so she would ask me to draw scenes of Mexico. Maybe in second grade, I’m

important to me to be able to hold my own with my friends. That’s one of the things you had to do.

VALERIO: You hung out with the rough kids?

doing these big friezes of Mexico for her. It was very CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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The Hare and the Tortoise, from Aesop’s Fables, 1988, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

SANTORE: Oh, yeah. They were the worst. [laughs]

art teacher had a little jewelry business, and he had

They were the worst, and I loved it. So, for years it

all the kids doing mechanicals and paste ups for his

was a double life.

jewelry catalogues, which I would have no part of.

HILDY TOW: Did your friends know that you drew

so well?

So, they just sort of left me alone and I did whatever I wanted to do. They encouraged it. When I was a senior, they offered me a scholarship to what is now

SANTORE: Yeah, but I could fight as well as they

the University of the Arts. I said I didn’t want

could too, so there was no problem.

it, because I didn’t know anybody that went to college. Many of my friends had quit school at

TOW: So you had your street side.

sixteen years old.

VALERIO: The racial tension was black and white?

Then I was in an English class, and when the class

Irish and Italian?

was dismissed, the teacher asked me to stay. I

SANTORE: It was black and white. The junior high

school was on 11th and Catharine, bordering on the black neighborhood. All the Italians and Irish from 2nd Street, and all the Italians from 9th Street and from my neighborhood would go west to 11th Street.

All the black people would come from Christian Street and Bainbridge Street, and they would all converge on the school. Every day there were fights going into school, and fights coming out of school.

It was constant.

thought maybe I did something wrong. She said, “I heard through the grapevine that you were offered a scholarship to art school and you said no.” I said, “Yes, that’s true.” She asked me why, and I said, “I don’t know. I just don’t want to go.” She said, “Well, did it ever occur to you that you could go and if you didn’t like it you could quit? But it’s never going to be offered to you again.” And I thought, she’s right.

So I said, “Okay, I’ll take it.”

VALERIO: That was a turning point in your life.

For high school, I went to Bok Vocational School.

SANTORE: That was a turning point in my life. I

I studied commercial art, but when I got there the

began to enjoy drawing and painting so much that

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The Mouse’s Tale, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

if I had a sandlot football or baseball game to play,

SANTORE: Yes, because he was too busy. He would

I was conflicted. I usually had a painting or work of

come in on Fridays and everybody would have the

some kind in process at home, but when I knew I

assignment on the wall, and he would look at it and

had to be at the field at two o’clock, it was hard! I

say, “It’s not quite right.” But he wouldn’t tell you

couldn’t leave a painting that wasn’t right yet. So

what to do or how to fix it. There was only one man,

there was always this tension between the two. I

a man named Isa Barnett, who was a local illustrator,

finally gave in to the art.

who was doing work nationally. He knew what he was doing, and he could tell you how to make your

VALERIO: So you went to the University of the

picture better. I never forgot him. The rest of the

Arts, which was then the Philadelphia Museum

teachers that I had in the illustration department—Al

School of Art.

Gold, Ben Eisenstadt, and others—were a lot of fun,

SANTORE: Yes, I was in the illustration program.

good artists, but they weren’t illustrators and that

I didn’t know what illustration was. I had no idea.

was evident in their teaching.

I knew I liked to draw and paint, and this was

VALERIO: Can we talk about your career after you

the 1950s so representational painting was out.

graduated from art school?

They were throwing out the plaster casts and so forth. New York abstraction was in. I knew I wasn’t

SANTORE: I never really wanted the cloak of an

interested in that, so I didn’t know what to do, and

artist. I didn’t want to be in an art community. I

somebody suggested illustration because you can

wasn’t really interested in that. I got out of school

draw and paint in illustration. So that’s what I took.

and I started walking around with a portfolio

Henry Pitts was the head of the department, and he

because that’s what they told me you’re supposed

would show up once a week to do a crit. His crits

to do. I would show it to people and get rejected,

weren’t very instructive.

and then finally someone at a little tiny advertising

VALERIO: Really?

agency on 16th and Spruce said, “Well, you can

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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So through the night rode Paul Revere, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Study for So through the night rode Paul Revere, 2002, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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work here.” I was rendering dental plates for about

story, do a picture, and it usually was fine. Before

two months. There was a letter-stamping machine

long, it began to feel competitive, not challenging.

right behind my desk. The noise was constant. It

The stories started to be the same boy-and-girl

was like Dante’s Inferno. [laughs]

romances over and over. I was longing to do something else, but I didn’t quite know what.

Luckily for me, one of the freelancers they used said to me, “There’s a little art service up on Arch

VALERIO: A picture I’ve seen many times is the

Street that’s looking for illustrators.” So, I took my

Redbook illustration you have of the big Irish setter.

portfolio, and they hired me, but they really didn’t

That’s an important picture because if you ask me

have anything for me to do. I was there for six

to describe Charles Santore the illustrator, I think of

months, and I began to see how the whole thing

an artist who loves to draw animals: Aesop’s Fables,

worked. Then when I was on vacation they fired me.

A Stowaway on Noah’s Ark, The Wizard of Oz, even

It was the only job I ever had in my life.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You love animals.

It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

SANTORE: I do.

When the art director from there left to open his

VALERIO: There’s something about the beauty of

own art service, he called me and said, “We’ll give you space and a telephone. If we get any illustration, you can do it, or you can go out and get your own

animals. Did the Irish setter start something for you?

Did you realize when you were making that drawing that it was something you liked doing?

accounts.” So I had space and a telephone and I could get out of my mother’s basement. That’s how

SANTORE: I did, because I actually made my

it started. I would walk around looking for work, and

model dog into an Irish setter. The story in

finally I’d get a little drawing here or there. Then

Redbook magazine was about an Irish setter,

when N. W. Ayer started giving me work, I started

but the closest dog I could find to borrow as

getting work really all over the city.

a model was a golden retriever. The story was about a woman who had an unruly setter that

VALERIO: Was Redbook a client of theirs?

was always bothering the neighbors. She loved

SANTORE: No, I worked directly for Redbook,

the dog because it had the freedom that she

Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal,

didn’t have in her own life. She’d take the dog out,

Esquire, and Cosmopolitan. I began in advertising

but she got so many complaints that she knew

but magazine illustration was the real showcase in

she had to get rid of the dog. So she took it out

the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, so I took my portfolio to

one last time, to a field, and while the dog was

New York. I illustrated stories in magazines, which

running in circles around her, she was watching

was getting closer to the narrative pictures that

it and thinking about her own life. Ultimately she

I later did when I began to do books. Magazine

found a new home for the dog. For me, whether

work was a lot of fun for several years. I would

it’s the Irish setter, or the horse in Paul Revere’s

do some advertising in between, because with a

Ride, the illustration isn’t of the Irish setter per

magazine assignment I’d get maybe three or four

se, or the horse per se, it’s the Irish setter of the

weeks to do it. They’d send me a story, I’d read the

imagination, and the horse of the imagination.

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Illustration for Redbook, mid-1970s, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Impact, mid-1970s, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Above: Later, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist) Right: Poster for Later, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Impact (self-titled album), released 1976 by Atco Records

It has to transcend or else it just becomes a

after his death, as much as they resented him, they

pedantic rendering of the animal.

found comfort being on his sailboat.

VALERIO: It represents something: in this case,

VALERIO: So, those are his hands? And is that your

freedom.

invention?

SANTORE: Right.

SANTORE: Yes, they’re his hands—he’s still got

them in his grip. I started doing theater posters

VALERIO: Before we get to your children’s books

because my sister-in-law is the dramaturge for

I’d like to talk a bit more about your earlier work.

Lincoln Center. Then, she was with the Phoenix

The show will include your commercial magazine

Theater in New York, a smaller venue. She asked

and advertising work as well as your album covers

me if I’d be willing to do theater posters for free. I

and theater posters. I love the album cover of the

said, “As long as nobody criticizes them. Give me

four men merged with the charging rhinoceros.

the play, I’ll read the play, I’ll do a poster, and you

SANTORE: The name of the group was Impact.

have to use it.” I did five or six of them. The last one

I got this assignment through a local advertising

was for a play about Vaslav Nijinsky, and it started

agency. I never knew whether the group was local

to get Broadway buzz even before it opened. All of

or not. I don’t think I ever heard of them again.

a sudden, all these money people came out of the woodwork. I got a call because I had sent a sketch

RACHEL MCCAY: Did you listen to their music

up to them, and they wanted to talk to me about

before you did this?

the poster. So, I went to New York and there’s six people in a room and they start telling me their

SANTORE: No, I don’t think so.

ideas. I said, “Who’s going to pay for it?” They said, “What do you mean? The posters are free.” I said,

TOW: So, how’d you come up with the rhino?

“No, the posters were free when I do the poster the

SANTORE: Well, because it was called “Impact,” I

way I want to do it. You want to art direct a poster,

was thinking about force.

you’re going to pay,” which I knew they weren’t

MCCAY: Do you know if they liked it?

going to do and I wasn’t going to do it anyway.

SANTORE: Oh, they loved it. The image was

VALERIO: You saw the writing on the wall.

included in one of the Society of Illustrators

SANTORE: Yeah, I just did that on purpose. So I did

exhibitions in New York.

five posters in 1979 because they let me do it my

VALERIO: It’s a spectacular illustration. You also did

a few theater posters.

own way..

I saw the possibilities and the excitement of

SANTORE: Yes, one I did was for a play called Later.

working with multiple images when I did Peter

It was about a father who was very domineering.

Rabbit, my first book. As wonderful as it is, the

When he died, he still had a grip on his two

original and well-known Beatrix Potter storybook is

daughters and his wife. He had been a sailor, and

depicted as though she’s looking from the kitchen

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His mother put him to bed and made some chamomile tea, from Peter Rabbit, 1987, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Peter sees Mr. McGregor as he rounds the cucumber frame, from Peter Rabbit, 1987, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

window into the yard, or the garden, and everything’s

obscure the subject. I would much rather let the text

happening in the middle distance. When you see

affect me and maybe change me as an artist.

Mr. McGregor chasing Peter, they’re both relatively

VALERIO: I see that approach very clearly in TV

small. I thought I’d like Peter to be like Huckleberry

Guide covers, because it’s a different medium, a

Finn. I’d like the viewer to get down with Peter and

different approach, a different touch as an artist for

when he turns that frame and sees Mr. McGregor,

each subject. As you described earlier, it all has to

he’s the scale of the Jolly Green Giant. He’s big. In my illustration the book starts with the introduction of the characters in a formal square format and then moves into vignettes. Peter disobeys his mother and he’s running around through the text; he’s free of the confines of the standard picture. At the end of the story, when he’s safe again, he’s back in the confines of the square format. I began to realize this is what

do with conveying the essence of the TV show. You depict Archie Bunker differently than you depict the news reporters on 60 Minutes. It’s the content that’s driving the style. Although there are consistent elements in what you do, it’s striking a balance with the demands of the content that makes your work elastic and interesting.

I wanted to do. I saw so many possibilities, a way

MCCAY: I agree. For the books that you write

to challenge—especially with these classics—what

yourself, where do you start? You’re not

was done before. Maybe something could be added

responding to an existing story. Do you write

to them.

the story first and then create the illustrations

Nothing to me is more boring than an illustrator who

or vice versa?

develops a style and then just pours the style on any

SANTORE: With my very first book, William the

subject, whatever that subject is. In my opinion, they

Curious, I tried to simultaneously write the story

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Cover image for William the Curious, from William the Curious, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

and illustrate it. That was a bad idea because I did

frog—it’s been sitting on my desk ever since. I

four or five pictures, I put a lot of time in, and then

thought I’d like to write a story about that frog, but

the story went off in another direction and they

I didn’t consider myself a writer. So I just started

were no longer relevant. So, I stopped that. Now I

scribbling. I mentioned it to a friend who was a

write the story and don’t think about pictures at all.

professor at the Annenberg School at the time,

I just write a story, then I illustrate it as though I’m

and he said, “Just write it. I’ll edit it for you.” I wrote

illustrating somebody else’s story.

it and he edited it, but I didn’t like what he did,

TOW: When did you start writing your own stories?

so I put it away for a while. Then I took it out and rewrote it, and I sent it to a couple of publishers

SANTORE: I wrote William the Curious before I ever

and got responses like, “Knights in armor are

did a children’s book, maybe thirty-five years ago.

not in vogue.” I never got criticism that I thought was valid, but I just put the story away and never

TOW: What propelled you to do that?

SANTORE: Somebody gave me a little ceramic

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thought about it. After I did Peter Rabbit, Aesop’s Fables, and The Wizard of Oz, I was in a different position; I showed it to the same editors, saying,

Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

somebody had donated, and they wanted to know

“What do you think of this?” They loved it.

what they were. They sent me pictures of them and

VALERIO: The book that we’ll reproduce in its

I told them what they had. I found the letter, and

entirety—that is, preparatory works and finished

I thought, “I wonder if the curator is still there.” I

drawings—is your version of Longfellow’s The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. Could you talk about how that book came to be?

called and sure enough the curator was still there.

I explained what I was doing and he said, “I’ll send you pictures of the room where Longfellow set his

SANTORE: I got a call from a publisher at Harper

poem.” He also sent me a picture of a portrait of the

Collins in New York, and she said, “Would you be

landlord who Longfellow chooses to tell the story.

interested in doing a version of Paul Revere?” I told her I’d love to, and while we were talking on the phone, I looked at my bookshelf and there was a old

VALERIO: How did you develop the character of

Paul Revere?

volume of Longfellow that my daughter gave me,

SANTORE: Well, there’s a famous John Singleton

which I’d never even looked at. As soon as I hung up

Copley portrait of Paul Revere, and I romanticized

the phone, I went to the book and I looked up the

that portrait.

poem. It’s part of a set called “Tales of a Wayside

VALERIO: The Copley portrait is of a stocky guy. To

Inn.” I thought at the time, “Wayside Inn, Wayside

me, you’ve made Paul Revere an Olympic athlete.

Inn, where did I hear that?” I remembered back in 1980, when I wrote a book about Windsor chairs—

You’ve brought him to a twentieth-century ideal.

antique Windsor chairs are a passion of mine—I

SANTORE: Well, he’s Paul Revere! [laughs]

had gotten a letter from the Wayside Inn saying

Longfellow’s poem already idealizes Revere’s

that they had three or four Windsor chairs that

story, so I didn’t want to go the route of historic CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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Paul Revere, 1768, by John Singleton Copley (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Gift of Joseph W. Revere, William B. Revere and Edward H. R. Revere) Photograph © February 17, 2018 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Model for Paul Revere, 2002 (Collection of the artist) Photographer uknown

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Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

realism, in the sense of having Copley’s jowly guy riding a horse. I wanted it to be the Paul Revere of the imagination, just like it is the horse of the imagination, as we described earlier. I hired a model for the figure of Revere and started doing rough sketches from life and just kept working them. This is not my traditional starting point, but because the book takes place at night I wanted to figure out the relationship between the characters and darkness.

It gave me a sense of the tonal values, then I used those as a guide to develop the finished pencil drawings, the color sketches, and the paintings.

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Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002,

by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Tonal sketch for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002,

by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002,

by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Color study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist) CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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VALERIO: Turning to another one of your books,

The Wizard of Oz-it’s a long story, and I realize your version is abridged. But every page is imagecentered. I love the way the text follows the yellow brick road or the image of the Lion leaping into space. You create a sense of emptiness under the Lion that’s yellow, but then it’s blue on top, creating an illusion of the sky. The text and the images work together in a very subtle way. What was the process for arranging them?

SANTORE: It was a kind of choreography. The first

thing I do when I’m beginning a book is read the story and create these little dummy books of images in sequence. If you look at the dummy book, it really surprises even me that the little doodles I did as I read the story often didn’t change that much in the end. Right in the beginning, the metaphor stuck in my mind that Dorothy was an orphan and her journey was one of discovering identity. She had to find out who she is, and that idea made the concept of the book fall into place. I developed some distinct

There’s a cyclone coming, Em, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

compositional approaches for the book. The journey had to go from left to right; it could never go the other way. The characters always had to be small in relation to the circumstances—if you turn the page and you see a big Dorothy filling the page, she would be dominating the circumstances. I didn’t want that. I wanted the characters to always look like they might not make it to the next page. They keep going from left to right until they encounter the Wicked Witch, and then it starts moving in the opposite direction.

When they overcome the Witch, it starts back again.

TOW: So, that’s what you mean when you describe

choreographing the movement of the book.

SANTORE: That’s what it is. It’s like music, and with

each of these books, there’s something unique—in The Little Mermaid, it was the music of the ocean, 32

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Dummy book for The Little Mermaid, 1993, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

The next moment it seemed as if she were flying through the air, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

the various moods of the sea. The story rides on

SANTORE: Yes, you have to find your connection.

the moods of the sea, and I try to let the ocean

MCCAY: Michael Patrick Hearn writes in One

just take me where it would go. With The Wizard

Hundred Years of American Children’s Book

of Oz, it is the yellow brick road that provides a

Illustration that the great children’s book illustrators

continuous structure. With Paul Revere’s Ride, Longfellow’s poem is so moving and so strong that people who have illustrated it in the past have just decorated the page and gotten out of the way

reject the notion that children are less perceptive than adults. You must certainly agree with him. How do you think children’s books should affect children?

of the poem. The poem’s like a racing locomotive

SANTORE: Children pick up so many things and

and I thought, to hell with Longfellow, I’m going to

I want them to get caught up in the story. The

challenge his words, I’m going to ride his text like a

other thing that I’ve always felt was important to

surfer rides a wave. I wanted to create pictures that

acknowledge is that children grow quickly and I’d

were challenging each of his stanzas in the poem.

like them to be able to get interested in the story

You find something that gives you the impetus to

just from the imagery before they’re able to read or

keep moving.

are comfortable with text. Then later they can read the story through the pictures at the same time,

TOW: It sounds like you find not just the essence

but what you really love about it, your connection.

following the narrative. The more they get familiar

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The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, were not troubled by the scent of the flowers, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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In a minute I shall melt away, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

with text, the more they can pick up details in the

SANTORE: When Random House first asked me to

art. I want my books to have a long shelf life.

do The Wizard of Oz, I said no because I didn’t like

VALERIO: One of the things that makes your work

so astounding is the use of scale. In The Wizard of Oz, your cyclone is larger than life. Dorothy is small and the things that are happening are big: a child’s point of view.

TOW: It’s beyond her control. One of the things

that I find amazing about the Lion in the field of poppies is that you capture the truth about the scene. Having watched the movie as a kid, I never knew why the Lion and Dorothy fell asleep, but the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow did not, until I read Frank Baum’s story. Dorothy and the Lion are affected by the poppies because they’re the only ones who are flesh and blood. When I saw your painting, it was just so clear.

the movie. Then I thought, well, maybe I should read it. The minute I read the first page, and it said Dorothy was an orphan, the metaphor for the whole story fell into place, and the yellow brick road became the journey. All of a sudden it made sense, and I decided I wanted to do the book. That’s when I began to see how important the choreography needed to be.

Certain images in these books are iconic: the poppy field in The Wizard of Oz, the caterpillar in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. When I worked on The Wizard of Oz, one thing that was in the back of my mind was that I didn’t want to disappoint people— everybody knows this story, everybody has an image of Judy Garland as Dorothy. So there was the movie to deal with and everybody’s preconceptions and expectations. I had an interesting meeting with Random House on this subject. I said, “I’m very

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concerned about Dorothy, because I’m not going

SANTORE: If you’re only giving what you already

to do Dorothy by committee.” This is what happens

know how to do, then you’re wasting everybody’s

in advertising, you know, everybody gets involved. I

time. I start by reading the book and making

said, “This has to be my Dorothy.” They said, “Sure,

sketches in sequential order in a tiny dummy book,

no problem.” I said, “That’s what you say now.” They

as I mentioned. I leave room for text in the book.

said, “Well, you had no trouble with Aesop’s Fables.”

Then I draw some rough sketches in ink. Then I

I said, “A fox two thousand years ago is the same

create a final drawing on tracing paper, then a color

as a fox today. That’s not Dorothy. All you people in

study, and finally a finished painting.

this room have a concept of who Dorothy is, and it’s not going to be your concept, it’s going to be my

VALERIO: Do you make several versions of the

same image?

concept.” They said, “Fine.”

I walked out of the meeting thinking to myself that I had no idea who Dorothy should be, so I started

SANTORE: No. There was a time when my floor

would be piled high with sketches. I would try every possible situation. As the years go by, I let

looking. I looked at models, and I went on, and

myself react more and more instinctively. You can’t

on, until finally my son, who was about thirteen or fourteen at the time, said, “There’s a girl in my class who has a little sister that might work for you.” I was getting desperate, so I called the mother and I explained, “I’m working on this project, The Wizard

overthink it. I just let it happen now. If it’s wrong, I’ll discard it. To me it’s like a Ouija board. I’m reading and my hand is just going. I don’t have that pile of sketches anymore.

of Oz. I’m looking for a model for Dorothy, but it’s

VALERIO: Can you describe how it comes to your

not up to me, it’s up to the editors.” [laughs] I was

mind? You told me earlier that it was completely

looking for somebody to play it off on. We met in

“inevitable” that the depiction of Alice and the

Rittenhouse Square, and as soon as I looked at her I

caterpillar would end up like this.

said, “That’s Dorothy.”

SANTORE: I felt that the mushroom was very VALERIO: What was it about her?

important and it should be large in the picture.

In my mind I wanted it to be a spread with the

SANTORE: I felt from the description in the book

caterpillar on the one side and Alice completely

and her age at the time—I think she was ten—that this girl was her. She had a corn-fed Kansas look. It was visceral. I just responded to it. I try to approach each book a little differently, so the process keeps to be unsure that you’re going to accomplish what that keeps you relevant.

really join them was the mushroom. We’re looking at the mushroom from the perspective of Alice because we’re looking at it from underneath. For

me off-balance, because in my opinion, you have you’re trying to accomplish. That’s the only thing

on the other side, and the thing that was going to

this image I changed the color of the smoke. When I did the color sketch the smoke didn’t work in white.

I knew I wanted a yellow sky. I ended up making the smoke blue and it was done.

VALERIO: It has to be a challenge.

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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Study for The caterpillar addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice, for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Study for The Caterpillar addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice, for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Color study for The Caterpillar addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice, for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Color study for caterpillar’s smoke for The Caterpillar addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice, for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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The Caterpillar addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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“It’s always 6 o’clock now. It’s always tea time,” said the Hatter, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

She was now more than nine feet high, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Down, down, down, would the fall never come to an end?, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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VALERIO: How is the character of Alice different

the book, she’s watching events unfold. Except

from Dorothy? Both are on a journey and they

for the growing and shrinking, she doesn’t really

encounter strange characters; some are friends,

interact with what’s going on. So the challenge was

others are not.

to have this little girl appear like she isn’t always just standing there looking at things. I had to find

SANTORE: In my mind, Alice is internally

ways to get her into the composition of what’s

comfortable. She knows pretty much who she is as a little girl, and that’s how she can cope with all

happening.

these strange events that are happening around her.

VALERIO: You describe that Alice is often a

She’s grounded most of the time.

bystander to the action in the story; however, in the end of the adventure she confronts the Queen

VALERIO: So, while Alice is confident and self-

posessed, Dorothy is on a journey of self-discovery.

Her eventual wisdom comes from finding her own

cut through the falsity of the dream-like fantasy

this sense, the Lion, the Tin Woodman, and the

world, discerning the real from the fake. We should

Scarecrow are symbolic manifestations of her

acknowledge Alice as a powerful figure who pulls

interior self. They don’t think they have courage,

back the curtain on pretense and false power, a

heart, or brains, but by the end of the adventure

child who sees through the charades of the adults

they realize it was there all along.

around her.

SANTORE: Yes, and by contrast Alice is confidence

is that she’s pretty much a bystander. Throughout

knows that the queen is just a playing card. There is something profound in this; Alice is able to

courage, her own heart, her own intelligence. In

personified, but one of the challenges with Alice

of Hearts and is unafraid to do so because she

SANTORE: That is an excellent interpretation and

characterization of Alice.

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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But hardly had the first bite passed Snow White’s lips, than she fell down dead, from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

VALERIO: Another well-known story you’ve

She’s saying, “Daddy loves me more than he loves

illustrated is Snow White.

you.” This is what begins to propel the story—at

SANTORE: Yes, for Snow White I focused on the

idea of the stepmother and how that functions

least that’s what Bettelheim says. His ideas were a guide for me.

within a family. The psychologist Bruno Bettelheim

VALERIO: Is that psychological understanding of

says that children can’t criticize their mothers.

the story built into the pictures?

That’s why the stepmother is introduced into stories, not only in Snow White, but Cinderella and others. Whatever gripes children have against their mothers, they can freely pour those difficulties onto symbolic stepmothers, because stepmothers are a step removed. Snow White is really a story about a little girl who gets to be about seven years old and starts to vie with her mother for her father’s attention. When the stepmother looks in the mirror and says, “Who is the fairest of them all?” and the mirror says, “It’s not you anymore, it’s Snow White,” it’s really the little girl saying that to her mother.

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SANTORE: Yes. If you look at older versions of

Snow White, the pictures never make much sense, because Snow White is a big girl and the dwarves are small. At the end, the prince has to marry somebody who’s an adult. I’ve never seen anybody do what I did, which is to start with a seven-yearold girl. She doesn’t grow until she’s in the crystal casket, which I interpret as a chrysalis, like a moth or a butterfly. In the beginning, however, she’s a little girl, because she’s fooled three times by the stepmother in disguise; if you can fool a teenage girl three times, she deserves whatever she gets! So,

“Where am I who are you?”(Snow White and Prince), from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

she has to be a little girl. Of course, the third time

dwarves as models. They wanted cartoon-like,

is the apple—it’s the Adam and Eve symbol. She’s

Disney-like dwarves, and I said no.

so beautiful they can’t bury her in the ground, so, they make a casket of crystal and that, to me, is the chrysalis. She grows in the casket because there’s

TOW: I think they’re more interesting characters for

the realism.

no timeline in the story for how long she’s in there.

VALERIO: At the end of Snow White you used Jan

In my book, by the time the prince comes along, the

van Eyck’s Arnolfini Wedding as your model? It is

dwarves are old. They have long beards and now

marvelous to me that you couldn’t resist the detail

she’s a young woman.

of the shoes.

VALERIO: So, you retell the story.

SANTORE: Yes, and the mirror that the stepmother

SANTORE: Well, the story doesn’t change—the

uses is the one from van Eyck’s painting.

pictures do. The other thing, too, is the publishers

VALERIO: Have you always been inspired by

gave me a really hard time because I hired real

paintings from art history?

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, by Jan van Eyck (The National Gallery: Museum purchase, 1842) Š National Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY

My Lady Queen, you are fair, ‘tis true, but Snow White is fairer far than you, from Snow White, 1997,

by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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...Snow White and the prince lived in the palace and reigned happily over the land for many, many years, from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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“You are free to go, poor child,” from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

SANTORE: Yes, I have. I don’t often go to

museums, but I have numerous books. I’ve always been interested in the Northern Renaissance. We mentioned van Eyck’s portrait. The huntsman’s

VALERIO: Did you have a model for Snow White?

SANTORE: I did. There’s a framer in Philadelphia,

Ursula Hobson, and this is her daughter at that age.

clothing and Snow White’s dress were also inspired

VALERIO: Charles, we’ve learned so much and

by the work of Lucas Cranach. The headdress and

covered a great deal of territory. Thank you for

clothing of the duchess from Alice in Wonderland

being so open and for sharing this intertwining of

is modeled off of Hans Holbein the Younger’s

your life story and your interpretation of these many

portraits of Henry VIII’s wives, Jane Seymour and

tales!

Anne of Cleves. I’ve always been drawn to the sculptural way that Northern Renaissance artists depict fabric. The many folds and angles give the fabric a life of its own. I’m interested in their attention to detail and the careful rendering of textures, jewels, and embroidery, and I’ve used this approach in my own work.

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Portrait of a Saxon Noblewoman as Mary Magdalene, 1525, by Lucas Cranach the Elder (Wallraf-Richartz Museum)

Anne of Cleves, Queen of England, by Hans Holbein the Younger (Musée du Louvre) © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY. Photography by G. Blot, C. Jean.

Jane Seymour, 1536, by Hans Holbein the Younger (Kunsthistorisches Museum) Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY

When the footmen had gone, Alice went timidly up to the door and knocked, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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SELECTED CHRONOLOGY

1935 Born on March 16 to Charles and Nellie Santore, the eldest of four sons. The family lives at 707 South 7th Street in Philadelphia.

1940–43 Attends Meredith School.

1943–47 Attends Campbell School Pfizer vertigo medication advertisement, early 1980s, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

1947 Santore family moves to Fulton Street in Philadelphia.

1958 Serves for six months as a medic in the US National

1947–50

Guard in Kentucky and Texas.

Attends Bartlett Junior High School.

1958–61 1950–53 Attends Bok Vocational School.

1953–56

Works as a freelance illustrator for the Dezmelyk & Whitson design firm in Philadelphia; accounts include the Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, PA. Performs at the Society Hill Playhouse in Philadelphia.

Attends the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now the University of the Arts) on a four-year scholarship.

1961–82 Works as a freelance illustrator. Independent

1956–58

clients include Smith, Kline and French; Merck, Sharp and Dohme; and the US Department of

Works as a freelance illustrator for various

the Interior (Independence Hall). Editorial clients

Philadelphia design firms.

include the Saturday Evening Post, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Ladies’ Home

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1972 Wins the Hamilton King Award and Silver Medal in the Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition.

Solo exhibition: Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia Ice Skating, for Parents magazine, c. 1977, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

1972–85 Illustrates magazine covers for TV Guide.

Journal, Cosmopolitan, Playboy, Venture, Money Magazine, Parents Magazine, the New York Times, and Avon Books. Advertising clients include J. Walter Thompson, N. W. Ayer, Gray and Rogers, and Lewis and Gilman for accounts such as the New York World’s Fair, Bell Telephone, AT&T, De Beers, TV Guide, DuPont Corporation, Newsweek, the US Army Reserve, Chrysler (Plymouth), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Weyerhaeuser Paper, the US Bicentennial Commission, and Standard Oil (New Jersey).

1962 Sells first editorial illustration to Good Housekeeping.

1963 Marries Olenka Litynska, with whom he has three children: Christina (born 1966), Charles III (born 1970), and Nicholas (born 1973).

Clockwise from top: Quincy: Jack Klugman, for TV Guide, 1977, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017); 60 Minutes: Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, and Dan Rather, for TV Guide, 1977, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017); Kaz: Ron Leibman, for TV Guide, 1978, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

1970 Wins an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

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Life of Benjamin Franklin, for the Philadelphia Bicentennial Commission, 1975, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

1975 Mural of the life of Benjamin Franklin, commissioned by the Philadelphia Bicentennial Commission, is installed at 4th and Arch Streets.

1977 Receives the Silver Star Alumni Award from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts).

1978–79 Illustrates posters for a series of acclaimed off-Broadway productions for the Phoenix Theater in New York.

1982 Writes The Windsor Style in America, published by Running Press.

1986

1988

First illustrated children’s book, The Classic Tale of Peter Rabbit and Other Cherished Stories by Beatrix Potter, published by Running Press (Philadelphia).

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Santore with his illustrations for Aesop’s Fables, 1987 (Courtesy of the artist) Photograph by Hal Lewis

WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Illustrates Aesop’s Fables, published by Random House (New York).

Says I, Says He, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Big and Little, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Poster for Big and Little, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Poster for Says I, Says He, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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She saw her sisters rising out of the flood, from The Little Mermaid, 1993 and 2013, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

They followed him through the portal into the streets of the Emerald City, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

1991

1992–93

1995

Illustrated edition of The

Solo exhibition: Children’s

Illustrations from The Wizard of Oz

Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Illustrations by Charles Santore,

serve as the backdrops for Turner

published by Random House.

Brandywine River Museum of

Classic Movies broadcast of The

Art, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania,

Wizard of Oz Concert (Lincoln

November 27–January 10.

Center, New York).

appear in Merrill Lynch TV

1993

1996

commercials aired during the

Illustrated edition of The Little

Illustrates Snow White for

Winter Olympic Games.

Mermaid by Hans Christian

Random House.

1992 Illustrations from Aesop’s Fables

Andersen published by Random House.

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…beautiful and delicious, but anyone who took a bite would surely die, from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

They carried the coffin to the top of the mountain, from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of James Campenella)

1996–97

1997

1998

Group exhibition: Myth, Magic,

Documentary film Charles

Receives the Storytelling World

Mystery: One Hundred Years

Santore Illustrates the Wizard

Honor Title for William the

of American Children’s Book

of Oz released by Sirocco

Curious: Knight of the Water

Illustration, Chrysler Museum of

Productions.

Lilies.

Original illustrated book William

Illustrated version of Aesop’s The

the Curious: Knight of the Water

Fox and the Rooster published

Lilies published by Random

by Random House.

Art, Norfolk, June 2–September 8, 1996; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, November 3–January 6, 1997; and Delaware Art Museum,

House.

Wilmington, February 7–April 6, 1997.

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Then the old man gathered all the animals of the world together, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Ark, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

2000 Original illustrated book A Stowaway on Noah’s Ark published by Random House.

Wins the Gold Medal for A Stowaway on Noah’s Ark at Society of Illustrators Original Art annual exhibition of children’s illustration.

Achoo!, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Ark, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

2003 Illustrated edition of Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published by Harper Collins.

Wins the Silver Medal for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale at the Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition.

Achbar followed along out of curiosity, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Ark, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

2004 Illustrated edition of The Camel’s

Illustrates first digital/online publication, Jack and

Lament by Charles E. Carryl published by Random

the Beanstalk, for the Saturn Corporation (Agency:

House.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners)

Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale named Children’s Book of the Year for Poetry by the Bank Street College Children’s Book Committee.

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Then he said, “Good night!” and with muffled oar, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

It was one by the village clock, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

You know the rest. In the books you have read, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist) CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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“Off with her head!”, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

2005

2011

Original illustrated book Three Hungry Pigs and The

Illustrated edition of The Night before Christmas

Wolf Who Came to Dinner published by Random

by Clement C. Moore published by Cider Mill Press

House.

Book Publishers.

2007

2012

Original illustrated book The Silk Princess published

The Night before Christmas reaches #1 on the New

by Random House.

York Times Best Sellers list.

Solo exhibition: Society of Illustrators, New York.

2009 Illustrated edition of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum published by Running Press.

Illustrates the official poster of the annual Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, DC.

2015 Solo exhibition: Charles Santore: Alice and the Narrative Picture Book, Stockton University Art Gallery, Galloway, New Jersey, January 20–March 28.

Illustrated edition of Alice’s Adventures Underground published by Cider Mill Press Book Publishers.

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Suddenly she heard a mighty roar, from The Silk Princess, 2007, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

2016

2018

Group exhibition: A Big Story, Pennsylvania

Solo exhibition: Charles Santore: Fifty Years of

Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, November

Art and Storytelling, Woodmere Art Museum,

25, 2016–February 5, 2017.

Philadelphia, February 17–May 13.

2017

2019

Illustrated edition of Alice’s Adventures in

Group exhibition: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Wonderland published by Cider Mill Press Book

tour planned for seven cities in Japan.

Publishers.

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

All works are by Charles Santore (American, born 1935) and are on loan from the collection of the artist, unless otherwise indicated.

Windsor Chair, c. 1780–1800 Hickory, pine and maple, 27 x 14 x 13 in.

Made in New York City Collection of Charles Santore

Christmas in Bethlehem, for Bell Telephone Hour Christmas program, 1968 Ink on paper, 22 1/2 x 19 in.

Columbo: Peter Falk, 1972 Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 16 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Self-Portrait, 1972 Charcoal on board, 14 1/2 x 21 in.

They Came Bearing Gifts, 1972 Graphite, ink on paper, 29 3/4 x 23 3/4 in.

Tom Paine at Valley Forge, 1972 Acrylic on canvas, 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.

Washington’s Crossing, 1776, 1972 Acrylic on canvas, 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.

Adam-12: Martin Milner and Kent McCord, 1973 Ink, gouache, and colored pencil, 10 3/8 x 15 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Cannon: William Conrad, 1973 Colored pencil, 9 x 11 3/4 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

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Christmas in Bethlehem, for Bell Telephone Hour Christmas program, 1968, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

They Came Bearing Gifts, 1972, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Streets of San Francisco: Karl Malden and Michael Douglas, 1973 Watercolor, 11 1/8 x 16 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

The US Army Reserve Presents Al Gee, Rap n’ Rhythm, 1973 Acrylic on canvas, 14 x 14 in.

Kojak: Telly Savalas, 1974 Oil on canvas, 16 x 19 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Adam-12: Martin Milner and Kent McCord, for TV Guide, 1973, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

All in the Family: Carroll O’Connor, 1975 Watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil on paper, 11 x 17 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Life of Benjamin Franklin, for the Philadelphia Bicentennial Commission, 1975 Oil on canvas, 16 1/4 x 32 in.

Little Esther Phillips, Angel (front cover), 1975 Acrylic on canvas, 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.

Little Esther Phillips, Devil (back cover), 1975 Acrylic on canvas, 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.

Medical Center: Chad Everett, 1975 Watercolor, 13 x 17 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

[Illustration for Redbook], mid-1970s Watercolor and ink on paper, 18 x 24 1/2 in.

CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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Howard Cosell, for TV Guide, 1985, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017) The Rookies: Sam Melville, Georg Stanford Brown, and Michael Ontkean, for TV Guide, 1980, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Impact, mid-1970s Colored pencil and charcoal, 15 1/8 x 15 1/2 in.

Sanford and Son: Redd Foxx, 1976 Pastel, 11 x 16 1/4 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

“Little Soul,” for Ladies’ Home Journal, mid-1970s Watercolor, 16 1/2 x 24 in.

September 1976, 1976 Pastel on paper, 20 7/8 x 29 1/4 in.

Independence Day, 1976 Pastel on paper, 27 x 35 1/4 in.

Starsky and Hutch: Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, 1976 Charcoal and watercolor, 15 1/2 x 21 in.

Requiem, 1976 Pastel on paper, 21 1/2 x 34 3/4 in.

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Ice Skating, for Parents magazine, c. 1977 Gouache, 22 x 30 in.

Bobby, 1977 Charcoal on paper, 39 x 28 in.

Private collection

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

The Godfather: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro, 1977 Watercolor and sepia ink, 13 1/2 x 20 in.

Washington’s Crossing, 1776, 1972, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Tom Paine at Valley Forge, 1972, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Cannon: William Conrad, for TV Guide, 1973, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Streets of San Francisco: Karl Malden and Michael Douglas, for TV Guide, 1973, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

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The house whirled around and 2 or 3 times and rose slowly through the air, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Don’t you dare bite Toto, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

There was a rushing of a great many wings, a great chattering and laughing and the witch was surrounded by a crowd of monkeys, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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I am Oz, the Great and Terrible, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

. . . at the end of the yellow brick road was a big gate all studded with emeralds, from The Wizard of Oz, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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The US Army Reserve Presents Al Gee, Rap n’ Rhythm, 1973, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Little Esther Phillips, Angel (front cover), 1975, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

The Godfather Is Reborn (interior): Francis Ford Coppola and Marlon Brando, 1977 Watercolor and colored ink, 12 1/2 x 12 3/4 in.

Quincy: Jack Klugman, 1977 Watercolor and colored inks on paper, 12 1/2 x 17 3/4 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

60 Minutes: Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, and Dan Rather, 1977 Colored pencil, gouache on gray paper, 15 x 19 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

The Jeffersons: Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, and Paul Benedict, 1978 Gouache on board, 11 1/2 x 16 1/2 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Little Esther Phillips, Devil (back cover), 1975, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Says I, Says He, Phoenix Theater, 1979 Charcoal pencil on paper, 12 x 17 3/4 in.

Big and Little, Phoenix Theater, 1979 Charcoal and gouache on paper, 17 x 27 in.

Taxi: Danny DeVito and Judd Hirsch, 1979 Watercolor and ink on paper, 12 3/8 x 17 1/2 in.

Kaz: Ron Leibman, 1978 Gouache on board, 12 x 16 1/2 in.

Bonjour, LĂ Bonjour, Phoenix Theater, 1979 Gouache on paper, 15 x 23 in.

Getting Out, Phoenix Theater, 1979 Graphite on paper, 28 x 30 in.

Later, Phoenix Theater, 1979 Graphite and gouache on paper, 24 x 31 3/4 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Pfizer vertigo medication advertisement, early 1980s Acrylic on canvas, 27 5/8 x 21 3/4 in.

The Rookies: Sam Melville, Georg Stanford Brown, and Michael Ontkean, 1980 Colored pencil and charcoal, 9 3/8 x 13 3/4 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

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All in the Family: Carroll O’Connor, for TV Guide, 1975, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Kojak: Telly Savalas, for TV Guide, 1974,

by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Sesame Street, 1980 Watercolor and colored inks, 12 1/8 x 15 1/2 in.

Howard Cosell, 1985 Watercolor and gouache on paper, 14 x 20 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Sheriff Lobo: Claude Akins, Brian Kerwin, and Mills Watson, 1980 Pen and ink and watercolor, 13 x 17 in.

Ronald Reagan/Inauguration/ Super Bowl, 1985 Watercolor and gouache on paper, 18 x 25 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

Soap: Richard Mulligan and Cathryn Damon, 1980 Watercolor and colored pencil, 12 1/2 x 17 3/4 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017

[TV guide newspaper ad], c. 1985 Ink on paper, 23 1/4 x 27 5/8 in. (sheet)

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PETER RABBIT His mother put him to bed and made some chamomile tea, 1987 Watercolor and ink on paper, 11 1/4 x 10 1/2 in.

Medical Center: Chad Everett, for TV Guide, 1975, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

AESOP’S FABLES The Hare and the Tortoise, 1988 Watercolor and ink on paper, 23 1/4 x 37 1/4 in. (frame)

THE WIZARD OF OZ There’s a cyclone coming, Em, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 19 x 14 3/4 in.

The house whirled around and 2 or 3 times and rose slowly through the air, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 20 x 15 3/4 in.

Requiem, 1976, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Independence Day, 1976, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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September 1976, 1976, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Sheriff Lobo: Claude Akins, Brian Kerwin, and Mills Watson, for TV Guide, 1980, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017) Soap: Richard Mulligan and Cathryn Damon, for TV Guide, 1980,

by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Don’t you dare bite Toto, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 13 x 20 in.

The next moment it seemed as if she were flying through the air, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 13 1/4 x 20 1/2 in.

The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, were not troubled by the scent of the flowers, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 20 1/4 x 13 1/2 in. . . . at the end of the yellow brick road was a big gate all studded with emeralds, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 20 x 16 in.

They followed him through the portal into the streets of the Emerald City, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 15 1/2 x 23 1/4 I am Oz, the Great and Terrible, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 21 1/2 x 27 3/4 in. (sheet)

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Sesame Street, for TV Guide, 1980, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

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Cover for the August 9–15, 1980 issue of TV Guide, illustration by Charles Santore

He thought himself alone in the bright moonlight, from The Little Mermaid, 1993 and 2013, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

There was a rushing of a great many wings, a great chattering and laughing and the witch was surrounded by a crowd of monkeys, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 13 x 20 1/4 in.

She saw her sisters rising out of the flood, from The Little Mermaid, 1993 and 2013 Watercolor on paper, 13 x 19 3/4 in.

In a minute I shall melt away, 1991 Watercolor and ink on paper, 13 1/2 x 20 1/4 in.

SNOW WHITE

THE LITTLE MERMAID He thought himself alone in the bright moonlight, from The Little Mermaid, 1993 and 2013 Watercolor on paper, 14 1/2 x 21 5/8 in.

…beautiful and delicious, but anyone who took a bite would surely die, 1997 Watercolor on paper, 14 x 21 1/2 in.

The Queen pricked her finger and three drops of blood fell on the snow outside, 1997 Watercolor on paper, 13 1/4 x 9 in.

Collection of Christina Santore

She ran like the wind over sharp stones and bramble bushes, 1997 Watercolor on paper, 13 1/4 x 20 1/4 in.

When it got quite dark, the owners of the little house returned, 1997 Watercolor on paper, 13 1/4 x 20 1/4 in.

But hardly had the first bite passed Snow White’s lips, than she fell down dead, 1997 Watercolor on paper, 13 1/4 x 20 1/2 in.

They carried the coffin to the top of the mountain, 1997 Watercolor on paper, 23 x 30 in. (frame) Collection of James Campenella

“Where am I? Who are you?”

(Snow White and Prince), 1997 Watercolor on paper, 20 x 27 1/4 in. (sheet)

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Bonjour, Là Bonjour, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Poster for Bonjour, Là Bonjour, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Getting Out, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Poster for Getting Out, Phoenix Theater, 1979, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Mali in the Ninth Century (fishing village), for National Geographic, 1981, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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WILLIAM THE CURIOUS Cover image for William the Curious, 1997 Watercolor on paper, 13 1/4 x 20 1/4 in.

A STOWAWAY ON NOAH’S ARK Building of the ark, 2000 Watercolor and sepia ink on paper, 17 1/8 x 26 in. (sheet) Then the old man gathered all the animals of the world together, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 11 1/2 x 22 1/4 in. (sheet) Achbar followed along out of curiosity, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 15 1/2 x 23 3/4 in. (sheet) Achoo!, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 12 7/8 x 17 in. (sheet) Soon villages were washed away, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 14 x 14 1/4 in. (sheet)

Poster for Children’s Book Council, 2003, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

…finally covering the peaks of the highest mountains, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 14 x 14 1/4 in. (sheet)

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“And that’s the jury box,” thought Alice, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

The whole world was underwater, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 16 3/8 x 19 1/4 in. (sheet)

The ark drifted over the silent world, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 10 x 17 1/2 in. (sheet)

Achbar hid in a forest of elephant legs, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 17 1/8 x 26 1/8 in.

The ark came to rest on a lone peak rising out of the ocean, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 12 x 18 1/4 in. (sheet)

He hid with a pair of storks in a nest of twigs, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 15 x 15 1/2 in. (sheet) He burrowed into the folds of the sheep’s warm, bushy wool, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 15 x 15 1/2 in. (sheet)

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…Achbar leapt onto the railing and peeked over the side, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 18 1/4 x 18 5/8 in.

The creatures spilled out, covering the land in every direction, 2000 Watercolor on paper, 10 1/4 x 19 1/4 in.

PAUL REVERE’S RIDE: THE LANDLORD’S TALE Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

Then he said, “Good night!” and with muffled oar, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

“You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” said Alice, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Starsky and Hutch: Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, for TV Guide, 1976, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Taxi: Danny DeVito and Judd Hirsch, for TV Guide, 1979, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

It was two by the village clock, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

He has left the village and mounted the steep, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

You know the rest. In the books you have read, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

And lo! As he looks, on the belfry’s height, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

It was twelve by the village clock, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

So through the night rode Paul Revere, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

It was one by the village clock, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

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Ronald Reagan/Inauguration/Super Bowl, for TV Guide, 1985, by Charles Santore (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the artist, 2017)

Cover for the January 19–25, 1985 issue of TV Guide, illustration

by Charles Santore

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Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, from Paul Revere’s Ride, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street, from Paul Revere’s Ride, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Study for Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Study for minutemen figure, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002,

by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Storyboard for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

A hurry of hoofs in a village street, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

It was twelve by the village clock, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Color study for Suddenly she heard a mighty roar, for The Silk Princess, 2007, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

End paper for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

End paper for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 9 x 22 1/2 in.

Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Graphite on paper, 11 x 14 in.

Study for So through the night rode Paul Revere, 2002 Graphite on paper, 13 x 24 1/8 in.

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Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Graphite on paper, 7 1/2 x 11 in.

Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Ink on tracing paper, 12 x 24 in.

Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Graphite on paper, 7 ¼ x 14 in.

Study for Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street, 2002 Graphite on paper, 14 x 11 in.

Tonal sketch for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Photocopy on paper and ink, 11 1/4 x 25 1/4 in.

Study for minutemen figure, 2002 Ballpoint pen on paper, 11 x 8 1/2 in.

Storyboard for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002 Ink on paper, 16 1/2 x 14 in.

And lo! As he looks, on the belfry’s height, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

He has left the village and mounted the steep, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

It was two by the village clock, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist) CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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The ark drifted over the silent world, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

He burrowed into the folds of the sheep’s warm, bushy wool, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist) The whole world was underwater, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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…Achbar leapt onto the railing and peeked over the side, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

…finally covering the peaks of the highest mountains, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Soon villages were washed away, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist) CHARLES SANTORE: FIFTY YEARS OF ART AND STORYTELLING

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Achbar hid in a forest of elephant legs, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

The creatures spilled out, covering the land in every direction, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Building of the ark, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

The ark came to rest on a lone peak rising out of the ocean, from A Stowaway on Noah’s Art, 2000, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Bobby, 1977, by Charles Santore (Private Collection)

Study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Ink on tracing paper, 12 3/4 x 24 in.

You know the rest. In the books you have read, from Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND Children’s Book Council, 2003 Poster, 22 x 9 in.

Articulated horse mannequin for Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale, 2002 Wood, 17 x 18 x 4 in.

THE SILK PRINCESS

Color study for Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Watercolor on paper, 10 1/4 x 23 in.

Suddenly she heard a mighty roar, 2007 Watercolor on paper, 19 1/2 x 33 1/2 in. (frame)

Color proof of Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, 2002 Inkjet print on paper, 9 3/4 x 23 in.

Color study for Suddenly she heard a mighty roar, 2007 Watercolor on paper, 3 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.

Stapled layout with text inserts (entire book multiple sheets), 2002 Photocopy on paper, 12 x 25 in.

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS The nymph knelt before Ak and said, “Let me keep this child,” 2009 Watercolor on paper, 3 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.

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Down, down, down, would the fall never come to an end?, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 12 1/2 x 36 in.

She was now more than nine feet high, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 15 3/4 x 22 1/2 in. (sheet) The Mouse’s Tale, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 17 3/4 x 28 1/2 in. (sheet) The Caterpillar addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 17 3/4 x 28 1/2 in.

“It’s always 6 o’clock now. It’s always tea time,” said the Hatter, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 17 x 55 1/2 in. (sheet)

When it got quite dark, the owners of the little house returned, from Snow White, 1997,

by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

“Off with her head!”, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 17 3/4 x 55 1/2 in. (sheet) “And that’s the jury box,” thought Alice, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 17 1/4 x 27 1/2 in. (sheet)

The Queen pricked her finger and three drops of blood fell on the snow outside, from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of Christina Santore) She ran like the wind over sharp stones and bramble bushes, from Snow White, 1997, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

“You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” said Alice, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 14 3/8 x 14 in.

And so the White Rabbit continues to be late for a very important date, 2017 Watercolor on paper, 17 x 17 in. (sheet)

The nymph knelt before Ak and said, “Let me keep this child,” from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, 2009, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

Mali in the Ninth Century (fishing village), for National Geographic, 1981 Watercolor and ink on paper, 19 1/8 x 26 in. (sheet)

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And so the White Rabbit continues to be late for a very important date, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 2017, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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Woodmere Art Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Support provided in part by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Š 2018 Woodmere Art Museum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.

Photography by Rick Echelmeyer unless otherwise noted.

Catalogue designed by Barb Barnett and edited by Gretchen Dykstra.

Front cover: The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, were not troubled by the scent of the flowers, 1991, by Charles Santore (Collection of the artist)

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