Susanne Suba facts for kids

Susanne Suba (1913–2012) was a talented artist. She was born in Hungary and became a well-known watercolor painter and illustrator in the United States. She created many beautiful drawings for books and magazines, especially for children.

Early Life and Education

Susanne Suba was born Zsuzsanna Suba in Budapest, Hungary, on December 13, 1913. Her mother, May Edwards Suba, was a pianist from New York. Her father, Miklos Suba, was an architect and artist. Susanne loved to draw from a very young age. She often sat with her father while he worked on his art.

In the early 1920s, her family moved to Brooklyn, New York. Susanne went to school at Brooklyn Friends School. Later, she studied art at the Pratt Institute. This helped her develop her amazing artistic skills.

Her Art Career

Susanne Suba became a freelance illustrator. This means she worked for different companies and people. She also became a commercial artist, creating art for advertisements and products.

She drew many covers and small pictures for a famous magazine called The New Yorker. Her drawings for the magazine were so popular that a collection of them was published in a book called Spots by Suba in 1944.

Susanne also illustrated many books. Her first book illustration was for Life Without Principle by Henry David Thoreau. She illustrated more than 25 children's books! Some of these books were written by her husband. She also wrote and illustrated her own books, sharing her stories and art with young readers.

Her artwork was shown in many important places. These included the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Personal Life

Susanne Suba married Russell McCracken. He was a writer and editor. They lived together in Chicago. Susanne Suba lived a long life, passing away on February 4, 2012, when she was 98 years old.

Her Artistic Legacy

Susanne Suba left behind a wonderful collection of her work. Her papers, including letters and drawings, are kept at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art. More of her papers are at the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has almost 600 of her artworks. She gave these works to the museum so that others could enjoy them. A special pen and ink drawing called Woman Reading is kept at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her art continues to inspire people today.