Wanda Hazel Gág ( ; March 11, 1893 – June 27, 1946) was an American artist, author, translator, and illustrator. She is best known for writing and illustrating the children's book ''

Millions of Cats ''Millions of Cats'' is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Wanda Gág in 1928. The book won a Newbery Honor award in 1929, one of the few picture books to do so. ''Millions of Cats'' is the oldest American picture book still in ...

'', the oldest American picture book still in print. Gág was also a noted print-maker, receiving international recognition and awards. ''Growing Pains'', a book of excerpts from the diaries of her teen and young adult years, received widespread critical acclaim. Two of her books were awarded

Newbery Honor Newbery is a surname. People * Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver * David Newbery (born 1943), British economist *Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot * Francis Newbery (disambiguation), s ...

s and two received Caldecott Honors.

Early years

Wanda Hazel Gág was born March 11, 1893, in the German-speaking community of

New Ulm, Minnesota New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River and the ...

, to Elisabeth ( Biebl) Gag and the artist and photographer

Anton Gag Anton Gag (12 June 1859 – 22 May 1908) was a Sudeten Germans, Sudeten-American Painting, painter and photography, studio photographer known for his portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and murals. Immigrating to the United States at the age of 14 ...

. The eldest of seven siblings, Wanda was 15 when her father died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. His final words to her were: "Was der Papa nicht thun konnt', muss die Wanda halt fertig machen." (What Papa couldn't do, Wanda will have to finish.) Following his death, the family was on welfare and some townspeople thought that Wanda should quit high school and get a steady job to help support her family. Despite this pressure, Wanda continued with her high school education. While still a teenager her illustrated story ''Robby Bobby in Mother Goose Land'' was published in ''

The Minneapolis Journal The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' in their ''Junior Journal'' supplement. After graduating in June 1912, she taught country school in

Springfield, Minnesota Springfield is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,152 at the 2010 census. U.S. Highway 14 serves as a main route in the community. This location is in the middle of some of Minnesota's most productive far ...

, from November 1912 to June 1913.

Art school

In 1913, Gág began a platonic relationship with

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

medical student Edgar T. Herrmann who exposed her to new ideas in art, politics and philosophy. With a scholarship (and the aid of friends), she attended The Saint Paul School of Art in 1913 and 1914. From 1914 to 1917 she attended The Minneapolis School of Art under the patronage of Herschel V. Jones. While there, she became friends with

Harry Gottlieb Harry Gottlieb (September 23, 1895 – July 4, 1992) was an American painter, screen printer, lithographer, and educator. Biography Gottlieb was born in Bucharest, Romania on September 23, 1895. He immigrated to America in 1907, and his family s ...

and

Adolf Dehn Adolf Dehn (November 22, 1895 – May 19, 1968) was an American artist known mainly as a lithographer. Throughout his artistic career, he participated in and helped define some important movements in American art, including regionalism, social r ...

. Her first illustrated book commission (as Wanda Gäg) was ''A Child’s Book of Folk-Lore— Mechanics of Written English'' by Jean Sherwood Rankin (1917). Crooked man by Wanda Gäg

New York

In 1917, Gág won a scholarship to the

Art Students League of New York 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 ...

where she took classes in composition, etching and advertising illustration. By 1919, Gág was earning her living as a commercial illustrator. During her time in New York she became a member of the

Society of American Graphic Artists The Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) is a not for profit national fine arts organization serving professional artists in the field of printmaking. SAGA provides its members with exhibition, reviews and networking opportunities in the N ...

. In 1921, she became a partner in a business venture called ''Happiwork Story Boxes''. The boxes were decorated with story panels on its sides.Hoyle, pp. 10–13 An illustration of Gág's was published in '' Broom: An International Magazine of the Arts'' in 1921. Gág's art exhibition in the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

in 1923 was her first solo show. She began signing her name "Gág" around this time. In 1924, Gág's work was published in a short-lived folio-style magazine with artist

William Gropper William Gropper (December 3, 1897January 3, 1977) was a U.S. cartoonist, painter, lithographer, and muralist. A committed radical, Gropper is best known for the political work which he contributed to such left wing publications as '' The Rev ...

. In 1925 she created a series of illustrated crossword puzzles for children that was syndicated in several newspapers. Gág's one-woman-show in the

Weyhe Gallery Weyhe Gallery, established in 1919 in New York City, is an art gallery specializing in prints. It is now in Mount Desert, Maine. History Erhard Weyhe (1883–1972) established the Weyhe Gallery in 1919. He also operated a bookstore, the Weyhe bo ...

in 1926 led to her being acclaimed as "… one of America’s most promising young graphic artists… " and was the start of a lifelong relationship with its manager,

Carl Zigrosser Carl Zigrosser (1891–1975) was an art dealer best known for founding and running the New York Weyhe Gallery in the 1920s and 1930s, and as Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art between 1940 and 1963. In the 1910s, ...

. She began to sell her lithographs, linoleum block prints, water colors and drawings through the gallery. In 1927, her article ''These Modern Women: A Hotbed of Feminists'' was published in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', drawing the attention of Alfred Stieglitz and prompting

Egmont Arens Egmont Hegel Arens (December 15, 1887 – October 2, 1966) was an American publisher of literature and art, and an industrial designer and commercial artist specializing in marketing and product packaging. Career Washington Square Book Shop Egmo ...

to write: "The way you solved that problem (her relationship with men) seems to me to be the most illuminating part of your career. You have done what all the other ‘modern women’ are still talking about." Gág’s illustrations were published on the covers of the leftist magazines ''

The New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...

'' and '' The Liberator''. Gág preparing Lithographic Stone

In 1928, Gág hand-colored some of

Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Biography Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English descent. He lived much of ...

's illustrations in a limited edition of ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...

''. In a 1929 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review,

Elisabeth Luther Cary Elisabeth Luther Cary (May 18, 1867 – July 13, 1936) was an American writer and art critic. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of Edward and Elisabeth (Luther) Cary. Her father was editor of the ''Brooklyn Union'' an ...

described Gág's print ''Stone Crusher'': "Pure imagination leaps out from dusky shadows and terrifies with light, an emotional source difficult to analyze." Her work was recognized internationally and was selected for inclusion in the

American Institute of Graphic Arts The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. T ...

''Fifty Prints of the Year'' in 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1936, 1937 and 1938. In 1939 Gág's work was shown at The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

exhibition ''Art in Our Time'' and at the New York World's Fair ''American Art Today'' show.

Works for children

In 1927 Gág's illustrated story ''Bunny's Easter Egg'' was published in ''John Martin's Book'', a magazine for children. Gág's work caught the attention of

Ernestine Evans Ernestine Evans (August 9, 1889 – July 3, 1967) was an American journalist, editor, author and literary agent. Life Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she lived in Elkhart, Indiana during her childhood and attended the University of Chicago, receivi ...

, director of

Coward-McCann G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam and J ...

's children's book division. Evans was delighted to learn that Gág had children's stories and illustrations in her folio and asked her to submit her own story with illustrations. The result, ''Millions of Cats'', had been developed from a story that Gág had written to entertain the children of friends. It was published in 1928.

Anne Carroll Moore Anne Carroll Moore (July 12, 1871 – January 20, 1961) was an American educator, writer and advocate for children's libraries. She was named Annie after an aunt, and officially changed her name to Anne in her fifties, to avoid confusion with Ann ...

wrote: "… It bears all the hallmarks of becoming a perennial favorite among children, and it takes a place of its own, both for the originality and strength of its pictures and the living folk-tale quality of its text. A book of universal interest to children living anywhere in the world." ''Millions of Cats'' is on the New York Public Library's list of 100 Great Children's Books. In 1935 Gág published the "proto-feminist" ''Gone is Gone; or, the Story of a Man Who Wanted to Do Housework''. To encourage the reading of fairy-tales, Gág translated and illustrated ''Tales from Grimm'' in 1936. English critic

Humbert Wolfe Humbert Wolfe CB CBE (5 January 1885 – 5 January 1940) was an Italian-born British poet, man of letters and civil servant. Biography Humbert Wolfe was born in Milan, Italy, and came from a Jewish family background,"Wolfe, Humbert" in Stanley ...

, commenting on Gág's translation, wrote: "From the very first page it was clear that Miss Gág was chopping away a perfect brushwood of clumsy phraseology to let in the light." Two years later she translated and illustrated the Grimm story ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' in reaction to the "trivialized, sterilized, and sentimentalized" Disney movie version. Her essay ''I Like Fairy Tales'' was published in the March 1939 issue of ''

The Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...

''. ''More Tales from Grimm'' was published posthumously in 1947. Four of her translated fairy tales were later released with illustrations by Margot Tomes.

Personal life

Gág enjoyed living and working in the country. In the early 1920s she spent summers drawing at various locations in rural New York and Connecticut. She rented a three-acre farm (''Tumble Timbers'') in

Glen Gardner, New Jersey Glen Gardner is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. At the time of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 1,704,Milford, New Jersey Milford is a borough located in western Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 1,232, a decrease of one person (−0.1%) from the 2010 census count of 1,233, which ...

in 1931. She continued to support her unmarried adult siblings, some of whom lived with her from time to time. Gág's brother Howard did the hand lettering for most of her picture books and Wanda also encouraged her sister Flavia to create illustrated books for children. In addition to Earle Humphreys (her long-time paramour and business manager) Gág had, sometimes concurrently, other lovers including: Adolph Dehn, Lewis Gannett, Carl Zigrosser, and Dr. Hugh Darby. She married Humphreys on August 27, 1943. Gág died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

in New York City, aged 53, on June 27, 1946.

Memorials

Gág was honored by ''The Horn Book Magazine'' in a tribute issue in 1947. Her childhood home in

has been restored and is now the Wanda Gág House, a museum and interpretive center that offers tours and educational programs. In 1992, ''Millions of Cats'' was featured on the television series ''

Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer who is known for her portrayals of distinct, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peab ...

's Bedtime Stories'', narrated by

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

. A bronze sculpture of Gág (with one of her cats) by Jason Jaspersen was erected at the public library of New Ulm, Minnesota, in 2016. In 2017 The Sandbox Theatre in Minneapolis produced ''In The Treetops'', a new play that focused on Gág's childhood years.

Awards

The books ''Millions of Cats'' and '' The ABC Bunny'' were recipients of a

. Both ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' and ''Nothing at All'' received a

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

. Wanda Gág was posthumously honored with The

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...

in 1958 and The

Kerlan Award The Kerlan Award is a literary award given by the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection, a special library focusing on children's literature. Many awards focus on the finished product, but the Kerlan Award is given based on the creative proc ...

in 1977
The Wanda Gág Read Aloud Book Award
is awarded each year by the

, Moorhead. In 2018, Gág was posthumously honored with The Museum of Illustration at the Society of Illustrators Original Art Lifetime Achievement Award.

Works

Books

Writer and illustrator: *''Batiking at Home: a Handbook for Beginners'', Coward McCann, 1926 *''

'', Coward McCann, 1928 *''The Funny Thing'', Coward McCann, 1929 *''Snippy and Snappy'', Coward McCann, 1931 *''Wanda Gág’s Storybook'' (includes Millions of Cats, The Funny Thing, Snippy and Snappy), Coward McCann, 1932 *'' The ABC Bunny'', Coward McCann, 1933 *''Gone is Gone; or, the Story of a Man Who Wanted to Do Housework'', Coward McCann, 1935 *''Growing Pains: Diaries and Drawings for the Years 1908–1917'', Coward McCann, 1940 *''Nothing At All'', Coward McCann, 1941 Translator and illustrator: *''Tales from Grimm'', Coward McCann, 1936 *''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'', Coward McCann, 1938 *''Three Gay Tales from Grimm'', Coward McCann, 1943 *''More Tales from Grimm'', Coward McCann, 1947 Illustrator only: *''A Child’s Book of Folk-Lore— Mechanics of Written English'', by Jean Sherwood Rankin, Augsburg, 1917 *''The Oak by the Waters of Rowan'', by Spencer Kellogg Jr, Aries Press, New York, 1927 *''The Day of Doom'', by

Michael Wigglesworth Michael Wigglesworth (1631–1705) was a Puritan minister, physician, and poet whose poem ''The Day of Doom'' was a bestseller in early New England. Family Michael Wigglesworth was born October 18, 1631 in Yorkshire, England. His father was Edw ...

, Spiral Press, 1929 *''Pond Image and Other Poems'', by Johan Egilsrud, Lund Press, Minneapolis, 1943 Translator only: *''The Six Swans'', illustrations by Margot Tomes, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1974 *''Wanda Gág's Jorinda and Joringel'', illustrations by Margot Tomes, Putnam, 1978 *''Wanda Gag's the Sorcerer's Apprentice'' illustrations by Margot Tomes, Putnam, 1979 *''Wanda Gag's The Earth Gnome'', illustrations by Margot Tomes, Putnam, 1985 *''The Sweet Porridge,'' illustrations by Jill McDonald

t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

Methuen Educational, 1966.

References

Selected prints

Airtight Stove
1933
Backyard Corner
1930
Evening
1928
The Forge
1932.
Gumbo Lane
c. 1928
Macy’s Stairway
1940–41
Spinning Wheel
1927
Ploughed Fields
1936
Winter Garden
1936

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

's Special Collections Library *
Overview of Wanda Gag archives at University of Minnesota Kerlan Collection
''All About Kids! TV Series'' #259 (1998) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gag, Wanda 1893 births 20th-century American painters American children's book illustrators American children's writers 20th-century illustrators of fairy tales People from New Ulm, Minnesota Artists from Minnesota Writers from Minnesota Writers from New Jersey American people of Czech descent Newbery Honor winners 1946 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) American women illustrators American women printmakers 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American printmakers American women children's writers