Reynold Dash Ruffins (August 5, 1930– July 11, 2021) was an American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

. With

Milton Glaser Milton Glaser (June 26, 1929June 26, 2020) was an American graphic designer. His most notable designs include the I Love New York logo, a 1966 poster for Bob Dylan, and the logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University and Brooklyn Brewery. In 1954 ...

Edward Sorel Edward Sorel (born Edward Schwartz, 26 March 1929) is an American illustrator, caricaturist, cartoonist, graphic designer and author. His work is known for its storytelling, its left-liberal social commentary, its criticism of reactionary right-w ...

, and

Seymour Chwast Seymour Chwast (born August 18, 1931) is an American graphic designer, illustrator, and type designer. Biography Chwast was born in the Bronx, New York City and in 1949 graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn where he was intro ...

, Ruffins founded

Push Pin Studios Push Pin Studios is a graphic design and illustration studio founded by the influential graphic designers Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast in New York City in 1954. The firm's work, and distinctive illustration style, featuring "bulgy" three-dimen ...

in 1954. An illustrator of more than twenty children's books, Ruffins is known for his "stylistic versatility, vibrant colors, and penchant for fanciful creatures."Zipes, Jack. ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'' (Oxford University Press, 2006). He has had many solo exhibitions and been part of group show exhibitions at Paris'

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, and in Milan, Bologna, and Tokyo.

Biography

Ruffins attended the

High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

. While still a student at Cooper Union he, Seymour Chwast, Milton Glaser, and Edward Sorel, formed Design Plus, a short-lived studio. After graduation the collaborative partnership evolved and in 1954, he co-founded

with fellow Cooper graduates Glaser, Sorel, and Chwast. In 1963, after leaving Push Pin, Ruffins founded another design studio with

Simms Taback Simms Taback (February 13, 1932 – December 25, 2011) was an American writer, graphic artist, and illustrator of more than 35 books. He won the 2000 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing ''Joseph Had a Little Over ...

, a partnership which lasted for more than thirty years.Dermont, Stacy
"Who's Here: Reynold Ruffins/Artist,"
''Dan's Papers'' #44 (Feb. 4, 2011). Commercial clients included IBM, AT&T, Coca-Cola, CBS, Pfizer, the ''New York Times'', ''Time Life'', ''Fortune'', ''Gourmet Magazine'', and the U.S. Post Office. Ruffins entered the field of children's book illustration in 1969, and throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he frequently collaborated with writer Jane Sarnoff. In 1991, Ruffins teamed with

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

and

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

to produce "Koi and the Kola Nuts," a highly praised video for children which was part of

Rabbit Ears Productions Rabbit Ears Productions is a production company best known for producing three television series that feature individual episodes adapting popular pieces of children's literature. Rabbit Ears episodes have been released on home video, broadcast o ...

' We All Have Tales series. Ruffins died peacefully at home on Sunday July 11, 2021, surrounded by family. He lived in

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the ...

; his wife Joan died in 2013.

Teaching

A professor emeritus at

CUNY , mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind , budget = $3.6 billion , established = , type = Public university system , chancellor = Fél ...

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

, Ruffins has also taught at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

Parsons The New School for Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

, and was a visiting adjunct professor at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Awards

Ruffins was the recipient of the Augustus St. Gaudens Award (presented by Cooper Union) for outstanding professional achievement in the arts. The Cooper Union Presidential Citation was also presented to Ruffins for his work and prominence in his profession. Ruffins' work led to awards from the New York Art Directors Club and a Silver Medal from the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

. Ruffins won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award in 1997 for the book ''Running the Road to ABC'' (written by Denize Lauture). His illustrations for the Haitian author earned Mr. Ruffins international honors.

Bibliography

As illustrator, unless otherwise noted: * ''The Amazing Maze'' (E.P. Dutton, 1969) — written by Harry Hartwick (co-illustrated with

) * ''Camels: Ships of the Desert'' (HarperCollins, 1974) — written by John Frederick Waters * ''The Chess Book'' (Scribner, 1973) — written by Jane Sarnoff * ''The Monster Riddle Book'' (Scribner 1975) — written by Jane Sarnoff * ''The Code & Cipher Book'' (MacMillan, 1975) — written by Jane Sarnoff * ''Space'' (Scribner, 1978) — written by Jane Sarnoff * ''My Brother Never Feeds the Cat'' (Scribner, 1979) — writer and illustrator * ''Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa'' (Knopf, 1994) — written by

Verna Aardema Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen (June 6, 1911 – May 11, 2000), best known by the name Verna Aardema, was an American writer of children's books. Verna Norberg was born in New Era, Michigan. She graduated from Michigan State University with ...

* ''Running the Road to ABC'' (Simon & Schuster, 1996) — written by Denize Lauture * ''Everywhere Faces Everywhere'' (Simon & Schuster, 1997) — written by James Berry * ''There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout!'' (Henry Holt, 1998) — written by Teri Sloat * ''The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story'' (Simon & Schuster, 2000) — written by Judy Sierra * ''Marco's Run'' (Green Light Readers, 2001) — written by Wesley Cartier * ''A Friend for King Amadou'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) — written by Robert McKissack

Notes

References

* Chwast, Seymour, ''The Push Pin Graphic'' (Chronicle Books, 2004) * Meggs, Phillip. ''A History of Graphic Design'' (NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983) * Patton, Sharon F. ''African American Art'' (Oxford University Press, 1998) * Pitz, Henry Clarence. ''200 Years of American Illustration'' (NY: Random House, 1977)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffins, Reynold 1930 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters American magazine illustrators African-American graphic designers African-American illustrators American children's book illustrators Painters from New York City People from Sag Harbor, New York The High School of Music & Art alumni Cooper Union alumni Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Beach Subdivisions Historic District African-American painters 21st-century African-American artists