With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Hardie Gramatky
Illustration, Children's Literature
1907 – 1979
Renowned illustrator and author Hardie Gramatky created “Little Toot,” a beloved children’s book named a classic by the Library of Congress in 1969. He was also an accomplished watercolorist.
- Biography/Description of Work
While in high school, a teacher of Gramatky’s encouraged his artistic ability, suggesting he submit some of his work to the Los Angeles Times. The paper hired him to do his Captain Kidd, Jr. comic strip which appeared in the youth section of the paper. In the late 1920s, he studied writing at Stanford University and at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles, where his teachers included Clarence Hinkle, Pruett Carter, F. Tolles Chamberlain, and Arthur Millier. In 1929, Hardie Gramatky began working at Walt Disney Studios while attending art school at night. He first worked on a comic book, and later in the animation department until 1936, when he moved to New York City. He was hired by Fortune Magazine in January of 1937 as a Pictorial Reporter covering the Mississippi flood that year. Throughout 1938, Gramatky worked on “Little Toot,” a story about a tugboat that saves the day; the idea came to him while he watched tugboats in the harbor pulling large ships. He saw in the little tugs personality and minds of their own. It became a popular children’s book upon its 1939 publication by G. P. Putnam’s and Sons, and has sold millions of copies. In 1946, after World War II, the Gramatkys purchased the property at 60 Roseville Road in Westport from the estate of Joseph Chapin who had been an Art Director for Scribner’s Magazine. In 1948, Hardie Gramatky helped to found the Fairfield Watercolor Group with Walter “Wally” Richards and Stevan Dohanos. The same year “Little Toot” was made into an animated movie by Walt Disney. Throughout his life, he continued to do water colors, exhibit, create art and illustrations for magazines such as True, Collier’s, and Reader’s Digest. He also continued to write and illustrate children’s books as well as give presentations and talks at schools and libraries. It was Gramatky’s practice to create the art and illustrations first, and then write the story. Among the books he created in his studio at 60 Roseville Road are “Creeper’s Jeep” (based on the neighbors across the street), “Sparky” (based on the trolley car that ran down Main Street in Westport), “Homer and the Circus Train” (for this book he did research at the New Haven Railroad rail yard), and a series of books that followed “Little Toot.”
- Sources view
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardie_Gramatky, http://www.gramatky.com/index.asp, http://www.californiawatercolor.com/collections/hardie-gramatky, http://www.californiawatercolor.com/pages/hardie-gramatky-biography, http://www.littletoot.org/about.asp, http://www.askart.com/AskART/G/hardie_gramatky/hardie_gramatky.aspx, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0334517/ Hardie Gramatky Article - New York Times - 1973-12-9, Hardie Gramatky Article - New York Times - 1989-11-26, Hardie Gramatky Daughter Wedding Announcement - New York Times - 1967-2-5, Hardie Gramatky Obituary - New York Times - 1979-5-1
- Associated Resource(s)