Mary Blair

Gabrielle Stecher (Indiana University)

Ed. by Dainy Bernstein, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

Born 21 Oct 1911
Died 26 Jul 1978
Activity c. 1930-1978

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Activities

Primary

Artist

Other

Illustrator

Resources

Blair's Works

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Following her death in 1978, Mary Blair has become increasingly recognized as a Disney animation concept artist, designer, and children’s book illustrator. Though Blair did not initially seek out work in the animation industry, her time spent in the employ of Walt Disney Productions vastly shaped her style, best characterized by a bold, unique color palette and flat, modern, and whimsical forms. This is the style reflected in her concept art for films such as

The Three Caballeros

(1944) and

Alice in Wonderland

(1951) and her illustrations for Little Golden Books in the 1950s and 1960s.

Mary Browne Robinson, born on 21 October 1911, in McAlester, Oklahoma, displayed a penchant for art at a young age. Though the family was often strained financially, Mary was insistent that her family

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1551 words

Citation: Stecher, Gabrielle. "Mary Blair". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 July 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15079, accessed 12 May 2024.]

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