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Nicolas Mordvinoff

Nicolas Mordvinoff (1911 - 1973) was active/lived in New York, New Mexico / Tahiti.  Nicolas Mordvinoff is known for Children's book illustration, cartoons, portrait and figure painting.

Nicolas Mordvinoff 1911-1973

Mordvinoff was born on Sept. 27, 1911, in St. Petersburg, Russia, but his family fled to Finland and then France during the Russian Revolution. While a student at the University of Paris, he contributed cartoons and illustrations to various French magazines and newspapers.

He left for the South Pacific in 1934 and spent the next thirteen years island-hopping and developing his artistic talent. Tourists and islanders alike bought his paintings, sometimes paying for them with pearls. While in Tahiti, Mordvinoff met U.S. author William S. Stone and created the pictures for his books Thunder Island (1942), Pepe Was the Saddest Bird (1944), and Ship of Flame (1945).

Mordvinoff moved to the United States in 1946, and became a naturalized citizen in 1952. He married Barbara Ellis in 1956, and they had three children. The collaboration between Mordvinoff and Lipkind began with The Two Reds (1950), which was   ...  [Displaying 1000 of 2510 characters.]  Artist bio

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Similar artists

.  There are 4 similar (related) artists for Nicolas Mordvinoff available:    Vasili Rozhdestvensky,  Shimon Okshteyn,  Nicolai Ivanovitch Vassilieff,  Aleksei Vasilievich Von Hanzen



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Facts about Nicolas Mordvinoff

   Nicolas Mordvinoff  Born:  1911 - St. Petersburg, Russia
Died:   1973 - Hampton, New Jersey
Known for:  Children's book illustration, cartoons, portrait and figure painting

Biography from Papillon Gallery

Nicolas Mordvinoff 1911-1973

Mordvinoff was born on Sept. 27, 1911, in St. Petersburg, Russia, but his family fled to Finland and then France during the Russian Revolution. While a student at the University of Paris, he contributed cartoons and illustrations to various French magazines and newspapers.

He left for the South Pacific in 1934 and spent the next thirteen years island-hopping and developing his artistic talent. Tourists and islanders alike bought his paintings, sometimes paying for them with pearls. While in Tahiti, Mordvinoff met U.S. author William S. Stone and created the pictures for his books Thunder Island (1942), Pepe Was the Saddest Bird (1944), and Ship of Flame (1945).

Mordvinoff moved to the United States in 1946, and became a naturalized citizen in 1952. He married Barbara Ellis in 1956, and they had three children. The collaboration between Mordvinoff and Lipkind began with The Two Reds (1950), which was selected as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1951. They followed that effort with Finders Keepers (1951), which won the Caldecott Medal in 1952 for illustrations. Using the pen names Nicolas and Will, Mordvinoff and Lipkind  continued to work together throughout the 1950s and 1960s, producing such titles as Circus Ruckus (1954), Chaga (1955), The Magic Feather Duster (1958), and The Boy and the Forest (1964). Several of their publications earned honors from The New York Times.

Mordvinoff also illustrated books by several other authors, including Natalie S. Carlson, Willis Lindquist, and William Owen Steele. He wrote and illustrated Bear's Land (1955) and Coral Island (1957).

Mordvinoff stopped illustrating children's books in the late 1960s to return to painting, and his works were exhibited in galleries in Paris and New York City.

He committed suicide on May 5, 1973, in Hampton, N.J.


Biography from Butler Institute of American Art

Nicolas Mordvinoff (1911-1973) was born in Russia, studied in Paris, and emigrated to the United States in 1946, marrying Barbara Ellis in the same year.

He used the pseudonym Nicolas when illustrating children's books. Finders Keepers by William Lipkind and illustrated by Nicolas won the 1952 Caldecott Medal; The Two Beds, also by his friend Lipkind, was a 1951 Caldecott honor book.

Mordvinoff illustrated Hortense the Cow for a Queen by Natalie Carlson and other award-winning books.


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