When Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler started digging through the Museum of Modern Art’s collection of vintage photographs—many are amateur shots donated by the artists and were never intended as works of art—they quickly found the theme they were looking for. “Girls standing on lawns!” Kalman says. “They stood on the lawn and were photographed by someone, as were my mother, my sister, my cousin, me, and every girl I ever knew.” All that was left was to select the photos that would inspire a dozen new paintings by Kalman and short captions by Handler.
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“Girls Standing on Lawns,” the first in a series of picture books published by the Museum of Modern Art, is being released this week. The original paintings are on view at the Julie Saul Gallery until June 14th.
© 2014 the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Illustrations © 2014 Maira Kalman. Text © 2014 Daniel Handler. Used by permission.