Carlotta K. Petrina (September 6, 1901 – December 11, 1997) was an American illustrator and printer, awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1933 for her illustrations to accompany John Milton's '' Paradise Lost''.

Early life and education

Charlotte F. Kennedy was born in

Kingston, New York Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with the New York metropolitan area around Manhattan by the United ...

, the daughter of Gilbert F. Kennedy (a lawyer) and Helen McCormick Kennedy (an illustrator). She was educated at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

and at Cooper Union in the 1920s.

Career

Petrina won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1933 (postponed until 1934) to do

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

in Paris. Her "beautiful but heartbreaking" illustrations for John Milton's ''Paradise Lost'' were published in 1936. The artist used herself as a model for Eve, and her late husband as the model for Adam, lending a particular intimacy and poignancy to the images. Milton scholar Virginia Tufte made a biographical film about Petrina, titled ''Reaching for Paradise: The Life and Art of Carlotta Petrina'' (1994). Petrina also illustrated editions of

Norman Douglas George Norman Douglas (8 December 1868 – 7 February 1952) was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel '' South Wind''. His travel books, such as ''Old Calabria'' (1915), were also appreciated for the quality of their writing. ...

's ''South Wind'' (1932), Shakespeare's ''

Henry VI, Part 2 ''Henry VI, Part 2'' (often written as ''2 Henry VI'') is a Shakespearean history, history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas ''Henry VI, Part 1'' ...

'', and the

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

translation of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of th ...

'' (1944), She made some illustrations for an edition of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's ''Oliver Twist'', but they were not used in the final publication. Drawings by Carlotta Petrina were included in the second

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

in 1933. Among her quirkier projects, she illustrated a short humorous novel called ''Clovis'' by Michael Fessier (1948), about a parrot with human intelligence.

Personal life and legacy

Charlotte Kennedy changed her name to Carlotta when she married fellow artist John Petrina in 1921. John was born Giovanni Antonio Secondo Petrina in Treviso, Italy. They had a son, Antonio. John died in 1935, in a car accident, while the Petrinas were traveling in Wyoming. Carlotta Petrina died in 1997, age 96, in Brownsville, Texas. The Carlotta Petrina Museum and Cultural Center in Brownsville exhibits her works and other artifacts from her life, as well as hosting classes and performances.J. Noel Espinoza
"Petrina Museum Due Tribute"
''Brownsville Herald'' (March 27, 2000).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrina, Carlotta American women illustrators American illustrators People from Kingston, New York Artists from New York (state) 1901 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists Cooper Union alumni