Peter Sis

Peter Sís is an internationally acclaimed author, artist and filmmaker. Born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, Peter Sís graduated in 1974 from the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and studied at the Royal College of Art in London.

Peter Sís is the first children’s book artist to be named a MacArthur Fellow. “The purpose of the MacArthur Fellows Program is to enable recipients — individuals who show exceptional merit and promise of continued and enhanced creative work — to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society.” (www.macfound.org)

Peter Sís’ children’s books often begin with maps, inviting readers to join him in discovering the world. Sís grew up in Prague under communism. First he followed in the footsteps of his father, a documentary filmmaker, and created award-winning animated short films. After Sís’ defection to the United States in the early 1980s, Maurice Sendak introduced him to the world of children’s books. He has since illustrated nearly 50 children’s books; for many of them, he also wrote the text. At the same time, he also created editorial illustrations for The New York Times and for other leading U.S. publications. He also designed posters, book jackets, and murals, and he created three-dimensional objects. Sís’ work has been shown in numerous solo exhibits in Europe and in the United States, most recently at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Sís finds it impossible to separate his life from his life’s work. The mysteries of Prague are explored in The Three Golden Keys, a book he wrote at the suggestion of his editor Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. His father’s time spent lost in Tibet is the subject of Sís’ Caldecott Honor Book, Tibet: Through the Red Box. Childhood heroes are the subjects of Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei, another Caldecott Honor book; Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus; A Small Tall Tale from the Far Far North, the story of Czech folk hero Jan Welzl; and The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin, his newest book. Sís’ own children inspired Madlenka; Madlenka’s Dog; Fire Truck; Trucks, Trucks, Trucks; Ship Ahoy!; Dinosaur!; and Ballerina!. World travel and love for animals led Sís to write and illustrate the popular Komodo! and An Ocean World.

Additionally, Sís has illustrated the works of other authors in books such as The Dragons Are Singing Tonight and Scranimals, both by Jack Prelutsky, and The Little Wing Giver by Jacques Taravant.

Layered images reflect the complexity of the artist, who works in pen and ink, watercolor, oil pastel, and mixed media. The NCCIL is proud to present a magnificent cross-section of Sís’ work in children’s illustrated literature.

Related Exhibitions: Discovering the World with Peter Sis (2003)