Stuart Davis (1892-1964)

Perhaps most widely recognized for his children's book Shrek!, which inspired the popular movie series, William Steig was an award-winning cartoonist, illustrator and author. In the 1930s, his drawings first appeared in The New Yorker, where they have been published on over 120 covers and countless interior pages. His children's books such as Abel's Island and Doctor De Soto earned him Newbery Honors and nominations for the Hans Christian Andersen Medals for Illustration and for Writing. Celebrated in a 2007-08 retrospective at The Jewish Museum, New York, Steig was famously passionate about his favorite inspirational artists, including Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and, as evidenced by the present work, Stuart Davis.