Zhenya Gay (born Eleanor Byrnes) (1906–1978) was an American writer and illustrator.

Biography

Eleanor Barnes was born in 1906 in Norwood, Massachusetts and, died August 3, 1978. She attended Columbia University, where she studied with Solon Borglum and Winold Reiss.^[1]

Her first artistic jobs as a freelancer were creating movie posters, newspaper advertisements, and costume designs for theater productions.^[2]

She spent several years traveling and living in Europe, Mexico, and Central America.^[3] In 1954, she left New York City for the Catskill Mountains.^[2]

She was in a relationship with Jan Gay (born Helen Reitman, daughter of Ben Reitman), a children's book writer.^[4]

In addition to her book illustrations, Gay also created standalone artworks, including aquatints, lithographs, and etchings. Her works are held in the permanent collections of several museums, including the University of Michigan Museum of Art,^[5][6] the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,^[7] and the Seattle Art Museum.^[8]

The Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota holds much of her work,^[2] as does the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.^[2]

Gay died on August 3, 1978.^[2]

Selected works

• Pancho and His Burro, 1930^[2]
• The Shire Colt, 1931^[3]
• Sakimura, 1936^[9]
• Whistlers' Van, 1937
• The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde, 1937^[10]
• Manuelito of Costa Rica, 1940^[3]
• Look!, 1952^[3]
• Jingle Jangle Story, 1953^[2]
• The Major and His Camels by Miriam E. Mason. Macmillan, 1953.
• The Sugarbush Family by Miriam E. Mason. Macmillan, 1954.^[11]
• Wonderful Things, 1954^[2]
• The Dear Friends, 1959^[2]
• I'm Tired of Lions, 1961^[2]
• Who's Afraid?, 1965^[3]

References