Events & Classes > Collins Gallery > Elmer and Berta Hader: Illustrators Extraordinaire!
Elmer and Berta Hader: Illustrators Extraordinaire!
Location, time
- Collins Gallery
- 3rd Floor, Central Library
- 801 S.W. 10th Avenue
- Portland, OR
- January 9–March 8, 2009
- Monday: 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
- Tuesday & Wednesday: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
- Thursday–Saturday: 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
- Sunday: noon–5 p.m.
About the exhibit
Elmer and Berta Hader were artists who wrote and illustrated more than 30 children's books, and illustrated another 40 more by other writers. They are most well remembered for their charming Caldecott Medal winning book, The Big Snow (1949).
Elmer (1889–1973) and his wife Berta (1891–1976) were known for their irresistible and delightful illustration style, which mirrored their almost storybook life. The Haders lived most of their long lives in Nyack, New York. Early on, they created illustrations for magazines; later they turned to children's books, where they developed their immediately recognizable style. They also pursued other artistic interests, including oil painting and dust jacket illustrations (the most well-known is John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath in 1939).
This exhibition features materials recently discovered by and in the possession of the Haders' niece, most of it never before exhibited. It includes original artwork by Elmer and Berta used for magazine illustrations in the 1920s and 30s; inscribed books with beautiful original drawings; a painting by Elmer; many hand-printed large format holiday greeting cards featuring self-portraits of the Haders; correspondence and manuscripts; original photographs by their close friend, Imogen Cunningham; and much more.
Related events
Opening Reception
- Saturday, January 17, 2–3:30 p.m.
Please join us for comments by exhibition curator and John Wilson Special Collections Librarian Jim Carmin; and a brief talk on the Haders by their niece, Joy Rich, and Karen Tolley, Director of the Hader Connection. Refreshments will be served.
Talk
- Tuesday, January 27, 6–7 p.m.
Please join us in the U.S. Bank Room for a talk on the art and personalities of Elmer and Berta Hader by Ed and Elaine Kemp. Ed Kemp is a retired special collections librarian from the University of Oregon; he and his wife Elaine worked with the Haders in the in the 1960s and 70s to acquire their papers for the UO library's special collections.
For more information, contact Jim Carmin at 503.988.6287.
