Marvin Bileck

Marvin Bileck (b. 1920) was an accomplished artist and illustrator of children’s books, with a lifelong love of line drawing. He met his wife, the artist Emily Nelligan, while studying at Cooper Union in the 1940s. For decades, they summered together on Cranberry Island, Maine, the landscape of which, alongside the woods surrounding their home in Winstead, Connecticut, can be seen in much of his work. These intensely detailed etchings and drawings, often compared with work of the Northern Renaissance, are parallels to the imaginative work he produced throughout his career as an illustrator of children’s books. Of the many books he illustrated, the 1964, Caldecott Honor winning Rain Makes Applesauce is perhaps the best known.

Bileck taught for many years, beginning in 1960 at the Philadelphia College of Art, and then, from 1967-1992, at Queens College in New York. His illustrations are beloved by children and adults to this day, and his work has been widely exhibited at museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and Queens Museum. Bileck died in 2005.

Work Exhibited

Deadwoods Cranberry Isles

Deadwoods Cranberry Isles

2005
graphite on paper
9 x 11 7/8 inches

Untitled (counterproof)

Untitled (counterproof)

2004
etching and aquatint
8 x 10

And Dreamier the Gloaming Grows

And Dreamier the Gloaming Grows

2001-2002
etching and engraving on paper
7 5/8 x 9 1/2 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Title Page

Thimbledon Bridge Title Page

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Page 6

Thimbledon Bridge Page 6

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Page 2 and page 30

Thimbledon Bridge Page 2 and page 30

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Page 3 and 31

Thimbledon Bridge Page 3 and 31

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustrations Page 4- Half Title Page

Thimbledon Bridge Illustrations Page 4- Half Title Page

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Page 5

Thimbledon Bridge Page 5

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Page 9

Thimbledon Bridge Page 9

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 11

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 11

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 12

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 12

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 13

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 13

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 14

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 14

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 17

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 17

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 22

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 22

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustrations Page 23

Thimbledon Bridge Illustrations Page 23

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 24

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 24

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 25

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 25

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 26

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 26

1965-1970
colored pencil and graphite on paper
11 1/4 x 14 inches

Writhing Dance of Roots and Rocks

Writhing Dance of Roots and Rocks

2004
graphite on paper
6 x 9 3/4 inches

Cranberry Isles

Cranberry Isles

2003
graphite on paper
11 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches

Murch's Cove

n.d.
soft-ground etching on paper
7 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches

Murch's Soft Ground

Murch's Soft Ground

1991
etching on paper
8 x 9 3/4 inches

Twister in the Limbs- Murch's Cove

Twister in the Limbs- Murch's Cove

1991
drypoint and engraving
7 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches

Uprooted Tree- Ruth's Woods

Uprooted Tree- Ruth's Woods

1990
hardground with added drypoint and engraving
7 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches

Rock Build-up, Great Head

Rock Build-up, Great Head

1988
etching and engraving on paper
8 x 9 7/8 inches

Fallen Trees

1980
etching and aquatint on paper
8 x 9 3/4 inches

Untitled

n.d.
etching, unique impression
9 3/4 x 12 inches

Untitled

n.d.
engraving on paper
7 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches

Deadwoods Cranberry Isles

Untitled (counterproof)

And Dreamier the Gloaming Grows

Thimbledon Bridge Title Page

Thimbledon Bridge Page 6

Thimbledon Bridge Page 2 and page 30

Thimbledon Bridge Page 3 and 31

Thimbledon Bridge Illustrations Page 4- Half Title Page

Thimbledon Bridge Page 5

Thimbledon Bridge Page 9

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 11

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 12

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 13

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 14

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 17

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 22

Thimbledon Bridge Illustrations Page 23

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 24

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 25

Thimbledon Bridge Illustration Page 26

Writhing Dance of Roots and Rocks

Cranberry Isles

Murch's Cove

Murch's Soft Ground

Twister in the Limbs- Murch's Cove

Uprooted Tree- Ruth's Woods

Rock Build-up, Great Head

Fallen Trees

Untitled

Untitled

Press

The Free Press: Drawings by Emily Nelligan and Marvin Bileck
New York Times: Marvin Bileck: ‘Thimbledon Bridge’ and Emily Nelligan: ‘Drawings’
American Arts Quarterly: Nelligan and Bileck
The New York Observer: Nelligan and Bileck: Charcoal Contours And Nature in Decay

Essays/Interviews

Alison Ferris: Marvin Bileck and Emily Nelligan-Cranberry Island
Obituary: Marvin Bileck (1920-2005)
Marvin Bileck: Artist Statement 1999
Robert Godfrey: Of Dreaming, Poetry, and the Spirit of Form: The Drawings, Etchings and Engravings of Marvin Bileck- 1996

Past Exhibitions

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