Illustrations by Gustaf Tenggren

This month's feature is a set of two illustrations made by renowned Disney illustrator Gustaf Tenggren. Both of these illustrations are part of the museum's current exhibit, Golden Legacy: Original Art from 75 Years of Golden Books. The first image is from the book The Lion's Paw, written by Jane Werner Wastson, illustrated by Tenggren, and published in 1956. The second image is titled "Knight and the Dragon" and is from Tenggren's King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table, written by Emma Gelder Sterne and Barbara Lindsay, and published in 1962. Tenggren illustrated both images in gouache and watercolor. 

An immigrant from Sweden, Gustaf Tenggren produced illustrations and concept art for iconic Disney properties Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi. Tenggren was hired by Little Golden Books in 1942 after leaving Disney, and worked there illustrating books for the next 20 years. Additionally, Tenggren contributed illustration work for advertising, for companies such as 1847 Rogers Bros, Snider's, and Heisey's Glassware.  

The Golden Legacy exhibit features 7 illustrations that Tenggren made for Golden Books, in addition to art produced by other illustrators such as Feodor Rojankovsky, Eloise Wilkin, Garth Williams, and Richard Scarry. Golden Legacy will be open until September 7. The exhibit was developed by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas, in 2007, and was updated in 2017.  

We hope that you enjoyed this peek at our collection! We'll be back next month with another artifact. Have a great July!