SLOBODKINA, Esphyr 1908-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born September 22, 1908, in Cheliabinsk, Siberia; died July 21, 2002, in Glen Head, NY. Abstract artist, author, and illustrator. Born in a small town in rural Siberia, Slobodkina immigrated to the United States in 1928 with her family. She was an abstract artist who worked in paintings and sculptures, and her work was eventually acquired for permanent collections at noted museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A founding member of the American Abstract Artists, Slobodkina started writing and illustrating children's books during the Great Depression of the 1930s to make extra money for her family, and was helped in publishing her books by a friendship with noted children's author Margaret Wise Brown. Her most well-known book, Caps for Sale, was first published in 1938 and continues to sell steadily. Caps for Sale tells the story of a cap salesman who is pestered by a group of playful monkeys who take the street peddlar's caps high up into the trees. Slobodkina wrote and illustrated a number of children's books for other authors, Brown among them, including The Wonderful Feast (1955), The Long Island Ducklings (1961), and Circus Elephant (published as Circus Caps for Sale in 2002).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angleles Times, July 29, 2002, p. B8.

New York Times, July 27, 2002, p. A24.

Publishers Weekly, August 12, 2002, p. 151.

Washington Post, July 28, 2002, p. C1.