Simplicity and a strong sense of design mark the warm and playfully absurd work of Abner Graboff. You can see more samples of his book illustration here.
I'm just learning about Abner Graboff -- we have a book my son loves for us to read to him -- Old MacDonald Had a Farm, illustrated by Graboff. It was only just recently we noticed that throughout the funny pics, the farmer has overalls on, then it becomes evening and he's getting ready for bed and has boxers or a towel on, then he's sitting in a recliner without a stitch of clothing on. We crack up every time we read it, but we are wondering if the illustrator meant this, was there a reason, etc.? There is a picture earlier in the book of the goats eating the farmer's clothes off the line, so was he illustrating the farmer had no bed clothes to wear now? Anyway, it's from 1969 -- if anyone has any info to share, we'd love to hear it. Now we'll be looking for more of Mr. Graboff's work. What a fun illustrator!
When I was a boy I had his version of I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Spider. The images were all in black, yellow and white and made a huge impression on me. Particuarly because the eyes of the old lady seemed to be on one side of her head, to the side of her noise. Also because she had a window in her stomach. I found a copy of the same book when I was in college at the City Wide Garage Sale at the coliseum in Austin, Tx. When I saw it my heart almost stopped because the images made such an impression on me as a boy. I bought the book without hesitating and have since picked up a few more copies.
(click on images for larger view)
7 Comments:
oh yeesssssssss....abner graboff is so awesome!! thank you for posting these!!
I'm just learning about Abner Graboff -- we have a book my son loves for us to read to him -- Old MacDonald Had a Farm, illustrated by Graboff. It was only just recently we noticed that throughout the funny pics, the farmer has overalls on, then it becomes evening and he's getting ready for bed and has boxers or a towel on, then he's sitting in a recliner without a stitch of clothing on. We crack up every time we read it, but we are wondering if the illustrator meant this, was there a reason, etc.? There is a picture earlier in the book of the goats eating the farmer's clothes off the line, so was he illustrating the farmer had no bed clothes to wear now? Anyway, it's from 1969 -- if anyone has any info to share, we'd love to hear it. Now we'll be looking for more of Mr. Graboff's work. What a fun illustrator!
Thank you very much for the Abner Graboff scans. I'm a serious fan of his work.
Graboff is great
The cover for Mr Angelo is incredible
It would be great to have a collection of his advertising work.
Here's another.
this illustrator was my father who died in 1986. he'd be very gratified by the appreciations shown here. thanks! Jon Graboff
When I was a boy I had his version of I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Spider. The images were all in black, yellow and white and made a huge impression on me. Particuarly because the eyes of the old lady seemed to be on one side of her head, to the side of her noise. Also because she had a window in her stomach. I found a copy of the same book when I was in college at the City Wide Garage Sale at the coliseum in Austin, Tx. When I saw it my heart almost stopped because the images made such an impression on me as a boy. I bought the book without hesitating and have since picked up a few more copies.
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