Original art from THE GIANT GOLDEN BOOK OF CAT STORIES

n.p.: n.p., 1953. Fine.. Four fine original watercolors that appear in Rojankovsky's Golden Books publication of 1953 all about cats. These watercolors appear on pages 19 and 54 of THE GIANT BOOK OF CAT STORIES. The first image is a great seaside scene: the cat is the captain of a cruise ship and he wears a cap and smokes a pipe; the ship, palm trees and low buildings make a charming Mediterranean scene. It measures 4.5'' square. The next watercolor depicts the prow of a working sailboat with workers closing the sails in port; in the the foreground, the old captain smokes a pipe. He is leaning over to receive a cat given to him by a little girl. The image measures 5.5'' x 8''. The third image shows a variety of brightly colored ships and boats in the harbor; in the foreground, the cat captain is smoking his pipe, wearing a cap and sweater. The image measures 6'' x 4.5''. The final piece is a different view of the same harbor, with a lighthouse in the background and the sky coloring at dusk. The captain is talking with another cat leaning on a railing. The image measures 4.5'' x 3.75''.

Rojankovsky was a Russian émigré artist who became an important illustrator of children's books. He illustrated the Domino Press' landmark DANIEL BOONE, and won the Caldecott Award in 1956 for FROG WENT A'COURTIN. Original art by Rojan rarely appears on the market and these are great images. 12'' x 35'' (frame). Mounted, matted and framed together. Second image (sailboat with smoking captain) with corner clipped.