Eric Carle and Ann Beneduce Picture Books Collaboration Celebrated in New Exhibition
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Eric Carle and Ann Beneduce, c. 1982
A special exhibition at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art next month explores a partnership built on mutual respect, trust, and a shared commitment to creating the best possible work.
On view from September 7 through March 9, 2025, Artful Collaboration: Eric Carle & Ann Beneduce explores the 50-year professional relationship between picture book artist and author Eric Carle (1929-2021) and picture book editor Ann Beneduce (1918-2021).
The exhibition includes correspondence, photographs, and never-before-exhibited art from Carle and Beneduce’s work together on iconic books such as 1, 2, 3, to the Zoo (1968) and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969), to their final collaboration The Nonsense Show (2015). The two worked together throughout Carle’s entire career, with Carle following Beneduce as she moved to different publishing houses and continuing to collaborate even after her retirement.
“A special relationship between author and editor is crucial to the success of a book,” said Carle. “Ann’s and my working relationship operates on the same wavelength and is marked by deep mutual respect and affection.”
The exhibition traces the duo’s relationship through five decades in the publishing industry. At a time when women were often genre-bound to cookbooks, mysteries, and children’s books, Ann Beneduce started her career at Doubleday, Lippincott, and then World Publishing, where she rose to lead the children’s book department. In the early 1960s she met Carle who was working as an advertising art director and freelance illustrator. “It was clear to me at once that an enormously talented artist had burst upon the children’s book scene,” said Beneduce.
On view are some of the duo’s earliest work together, including 1987 re-illustrations for 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo (1968), the first picture book that Carle both wrote and illustrated. Less confident in his skills as an author, Beneduce encouraged Carle to try his hand at both story and illustration. When Carle first presented The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969) to Beneduce as Willi the Worm she suggested changing the character to one with a more dramatic journey. At her mention of “Caterpillar?,” Carle exclaimed “Butterfly!”
When they worked on a book, Carle and Beneduce traded notes, sketches, and letters, many of which are on view in the exhibition including original illustrations from The Nonsense Show (2015), the last book Carle authored and illustrated on his own with Beneduce as consulting editor, including a yellow rubber duck with human feet.
Elsewhere there are examples of Carle’s abstract artworks which he created as personal gifts for family and friends, including Beneduce. These works often demonstrate Carle’s technical ability beyond representative illustration. Some collages showcase Carle’s love affair with color include For Anne [sic] (1997) with bold blocks of hand-painted patterned tissue paper, and a playful personalized work from 2015 that depicts Beneduce dressed as a butterfly.
