Antonio Frasconi facts for kids

Antonio Frasconi (born April 28, 1919, died January 8, 2013) was an artist from Uruguay and the United States. He was famous for his amazing woodcuts, which are a type of printmaking. Antonio grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay, and moved to the United States in 1945.

Life of Antonio Frasconi

Early Life and Family

Antonio Rudolfo Frasconi was born on April 28, 1919. He was born on a boat traveling between Argentina and Uruguay. He grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay. His parents were from Italy and had moved to South America during World War I.

Antonio's mother managed a restaurant, and his father often did not have a job. Antonio often shared stories about his mother's thoughts on his artistic talent. She believed that if someone was truly gifted, they would already be famous. She worked hard every day in the restaurant, cared for Antonio and his two sisters, and also worked as a seamstress.

Discovering Art

When Antonio was twelve, he started learning a trade at a printing shop. He had stopped taking classes at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, an art school. As a teenager, he admired artists like Gustave Doré and Goya. He enjoyed drawing funny pictures of political leaders.

During World War II, the French organized an art show in Latin America. It featured art styles like Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Artists such as Van Gogh and Cézanne really inspired him. But it was the woodcuts by Paul Gauguin that he liked the most. Frasconi also became very interested in American writers and musicians. He would listen to Jazz music on the radio and read books by American authors like Walt Whitman.

Moving to the United States

Frasconi moved to the United States in 1945, after World War II ended. He worked as a gardener and a guard at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. This museum was where he had his very first art show just for his work. His art started to become more known. Within a year, he had another show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

In 1952, Frasconi received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellow. This award helps talented people in arts and sciences.

In 1955, his woodcuts were shown at the Summit Art Association in New Jersey. This art show later traveled to many places, organized by the Smithsonian Institution.

Awards and Teaching

In 1959, Antonio Frasconi was a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal. This medal is given each year to the artist who illustrates the best American picture book for children. His book, The House That Jack Built, which he also wrote, became known as a Caldecott Honor Book.

In 1962, Frasconi won a Horn Book Fanfare award for his book The Snow and the Sun - La Nieve y el Sol. This book was special because it was written in two languages. He often created books in many languages. Also in 1962, he became a member of the National Academy of Design, and a full member in 1969.

In 1982, Frasconi was a special teaching professor of Visual Arts at the State University of New York at Purchase. Some of his students included Martha Zelt, Adrian Lee Kellard, and Ron Rocco.

Between 1981 and 1986, he created a series of woodcuts called "Los desaparecidos" (The Disappeared). This series of artworks talked about the difficult times for his home country, Uruguay.

Antonio Frasconi passed away on January 8, 2013.

Selected Works

• 12 Fables of Aesop, with text by Glenway Wescott (1954)
• See and say = Guarda e parla = Regarda et parle = Mira y habla (1955) — a book in English, Italian, French, and Spanish
• Frasconi Woodcuts (1958)
• The House that Jack Built: La Maison Que Jacques A Batie (1958) — in English and French
• A Whitman Portrait (1960)
• The Snow and the Sun: a South American folk rhyme in two languages = La Nieve y el Sol (1962) — in English and Spanish
• A Sunday in Monterey: Woodcuts (1964)
• The Cantilever Rainbow (A), with text by Ruth Krauss (1965)
• A Kaleidoscope in Woodcuts (1968)
• On the Slain Collegians, a selection from the poems of Herman Melville. Edited and with woodcuts by Antonio Frasconi (1971)
• Frasconi: Against the Grain, the woodcuts of Antonio Frasconi (1974)
• The Disappeared, a collection of woodcuts now at the MNAV Museum Natl. Visual Arts in Montevideo, Uruguay. The author donated them, and Eduardo Darino curated them. There is also a film with the artwork, video, and animation by Eduardo Darino, with an introduction by Mario Benedetti and music by Pablo Frasconi.

See also

In Spanish: Antonio Frasconi para niños