Mary and Conrad Buff facts for kids

Mary Buff (born April 10, 1890 – died 1970) and Conrad Buff II (born August 31, 1886 – died March 11, 1975) were a married couple who created illustrated children's books. They worked together on both the stories and the pictures for 14 books between 1937 and 1968. Their books were recognized four times as runners-up for important awards like the Caldecott Medal or Newbery Medal. They had a big impact on children's books in the middle of the 20th century.

Conrad Buff's Early Life and Art

Conrad Buff II was born in 1886 in a village called Speicher in Switzerland. He loved sketching and art from a young age, just like his father. When he was 14, in 1900, Conrad started studying at the School of Arts and Crafts near his home.

By 1903, Conrad was running low on money. He also felt that art school wasn't the right fit for him. So, in 1904, he decided to leave Switzerland and move to America. He hoped to find a more exciting life there. As he traveled across America, he took on many different jobs. He worked as a painter, a shepherd, a dish washer, and even a baker.

By 1907, Conrad Buff arrived in Los Angeles with no money. He started earning a living by painting houses. During this time, he was able to buy some land. He kept painting in his free time. From 1910 to 1913, he attended the Art Students League of Los Angeles. However, he still didn't feel happy with formal art training. He then took night classes at Los Angeles High School. There, he painted many small oil portraits. These paintings were very unique for their time, but they were never shown to the public. Around this time, Conrad also started painting many landscape pictures. These types of paintings were very popular in California back then.

Mary Buff's Journey to Writing

Mary Buff, whose maiden name was Mary Marsh, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 10, 1890. From a young age, Mary was interested in arts and poetry. However, she chose to focus on studying art. She attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the Cincinnati Art Academy. She earned her bachelor's degree from Bethany College in Kansas.

After college, Mary lived in Albion, Idaho. In the 1920s, she moved to Los Angeles. In 1922, she married Conrad Buff. Mary worked as an assistant curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her job paid well enough that her husband, Conrad, could paint full-time. After marrying Conrad, Mary decided to stop painting herself. Instead, she began writing children's books with him. Mary passed away in 1970.

A Creative Partnership: Their Career

Conrad Buff's first artworks were small landscape oil paintings. He sold them for only 50 cents each in 1905. In the 1910s, Conrad started using a special painting method called cross-hatching. This technique made his paintings look more abstract. Some parts of his art were clear, while other areas were rough and less detailed. His style was different from other landscape painters. He didn't paint scenes exactly as they looked.

From the 1920s to the 1930s, Conrad began painting murals. These were large paintings on walls, often showing buildings and big spaces. Some of his famous murals were in the Southern California Edison Company building in Los Angeles and the First National Bank of Phoenix. In the 1930s, Conrad also made several lithographs. These are copies of other paintings made using a special printing process. His artwork won many awards at art shows.

In 1936, Conrad Buff started illustrating children's books with his wife, Mary Buff. He continued illustrating until 1968, creating many books during this time.

Before becoming an author, Mary Buff was a teacher in Montana, Idaho, and Hollywood. She was also an artist and worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 1936, Mary began writing books. She and Conrad published 14 books together.

Nature's Influence on Their Work

Nature was a very important theme in the books and art created by Mary and Conrad Buff. Many of their stories, like Dash & Dart and Forest Folk, focus on nature. Conrad Buff also painted many oil landscapes. One famous landscape painting, "Canyon Land," was sold for $77,000 in 2003. Conrad's landscape paintings were special because he used his unique cross-hatching and pointillist styles.

Famous Books by the Buffs

Mary and Conrad Buff worked together to publish 14 books. Mary was the storyteller and wrote most of the books. Conrad used his artistic talent to create the illustrations.

Their second book about Switzerland, The Apple and the Arrow (1951), tells a version of the famous William Tell legend. This book is suggested for fourth-grade readers and is still used in schools across Canada today. It was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1952.

List of Books by Mary and Conrad Buff

The Buffs worked together on 14 books and a revised edition of their first book.

• Dancing Cloud: the Navajo boy (The Viking Press, 1937), by Mary Marsh Buff with pictures by Conrad Buff
• Kobi, a boy of Switzerland (Viking, 1939), by Mary Marsh Buff and Conrad Buff; pictures by Conrad Buff
• Dash & Dart (Viking, 1942), by Mary and Conrad Buff
• Big Tree (Viking, 1946)
• Peter's Pinto, a story of Utah (Viking, 1949)
• The Apple and the Arrow (Houghton Mifflin, 1951) — a version of the William Tell story
• Magic Maize (Houghton Mifflin, 1953)
• Hurry, Skurry, & Flurry (Viking, 1954)
• Hah-nee to the cliff dwellers (HM, 1956)
• Dancing Cloud, the Navajo boy (Viking, 1957), a new edition with new pictures by Conrad Buff
• Elf Owl (Viking, 1958)
• Trix and Vix (HM, 1960)
• Forest folk (Viking, 1962)
• Kemi, an Indian boy before the white man came (Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie Press, 1966)
• Colorado, river of mystery (Ritchie, 1968)

Their Impact on Children's Literature

Mary and Conrad Buff are known as important people in American children's literature. They were often among the runners-up for the Caldecott Medal or the Newbery Medal. These are the most respected awards for children's books in America.

The Caldecott Medal is given to the illustrator of the best picture book for children from the past year. The Buffs were runners-up for Dash and Dart in 1943. The Newbery Medal is for the writer of the best contribution to American literature for children. The Buffs were runners-up for Big Tree in 1947, The Apple and the Arrow in 1952, and Magic Maize in 1954.

Conrad Buff also made a name for himself outside of children's books. He was hired to paint large architectural murals in cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Where to Find Their Work

The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Mississippi started in 1966. The Buffs gave a small collection of their work to this library. Their main collection of papers and art is kept at the University of California, Irvine.