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Guide to the Irene Robinson Drawings
D1968.1  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Processing Information
  • Biography / Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Irene Robinson drawings
    Dates: 1931-1964
    Collection number: D1968.1
    Creator: Robinson, Irene B. (Irene Bowen), b. 1891
    Collection Size: 4 oversize boxes and 3 oversize flat drawers
    Repository: Claremont Colleges. Library. Ella Strong Denison Library.
    Claremont, California 91711
    Abstract: The Irene Robinson Collection of Artwork contains artwork relating to Irene Robinson's professional work. The collection contains illustrations from sixteen texts, all authored by W.W. Robinson. These texts, published largely between 1931 and 1966, include both children's picture books and perspectives on Southern California history. The collection also includes a number of sketches for potential new books and miscellaneous artwork by Irene Robinson. The collection contains charcoal, pastel, and pencil drawings, oil paintings, watercolors, and textual materials.
    Physical location: Please consult repository.
    Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

    Access

    Collection open for research.

    Publication Rights

    All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Denison Library.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Irene Robinson drawings. Ella Strong Denison Library, Libraries of The Claremont Colleges.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of W.W. and Irene Robinson in 1968.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Elizabeth Gallagher, Scripps College, Spring 2007.

    Biography / Administrative History

    Irene Margaret Bowen Robinson (1891 - 1973) was born in Washington state, but she grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Pasadena, California. In 1915, she attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, and later studied at the University of Chicago, the Broadmoor Art Academy with John Carlson in Colorado Springs, and in Los Angeles at the Chouinard and Otis Art Institutes. In the early 1920s, she taught art in Los Angeles and then married W. W. (William Wilcox) Robinson, a businessman and writer.
    Irene Robinson and her husband Will began to publish collaboratively in approximately 1931. Under the authorship of Will, with Irene as illustrator, their published works include more than fifteen illustrated works for children and adults. Will was an avid collector of Southern California ephemera and knowledge, and published books on the subject include The Story of Pershing Square, The Malibu, and The Island of Santa Catalina. The couple also published many children's books, including some of the first children's books on the subject of prehistoric animals (Ancient Animals and The Beasts of the Tar Pits).
    Irene and Will Robinson were in their late 70s when they began to search for a home for their collaborative work. At the suggestion of Lawrence Clark Powell, the majority of Irene's artwork (valued at approximately $5000 in 1968 by Glen Dawson) found its home at Denison Library, Scripps College, in 1968.
    Irene died in January 1973, less than a year after her husband.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Irene Robinson Collection of Artwork contains artwork relating to Irene Robinson's professional work. The collection contains illustrations from sixteen texts, all authored by W.W. Robinson. These texts, published largely between 1931 and 1966, include both children's picture books and perspectives on Southern California history. The collection also includes a number of sketches for potential new books and miscellaneous artwork by Irene Robinson. The collection contains charcoal, pastel, and pencil drawings, oil paintings, watercolors, and textual materials.

    Arrangement

    The collection is organized into 16 series:

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
    Children's literature -- Illustrations
    Illustration of books -- 20th century
    Picture books for children