View Judith Johnson's Commentary
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From the Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman, published in 1967, to The Hero of Bremen, published in 1993, Charles Mikolaycak has delighted children and adults alike with his exquisitely designed and articulated illustrations. As a teacher of design, I see in Mikolaycak’s work a great resource for both teachers of illustration and for prospective illustrators. Much can be learned from studying his drawings. I hope this commentary will enlighten and stimulate you to learn more about the work of this remarkable artist.

View Edward Leffingwell's Essay
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But there is another story to tell: one of the lineage that can be traced through Mikolaycak’s interest in art history and the role that interest played in the expression of his work. He told his audience at Sacramento: “We have centuries of art and art history that document information, style, color and form.” He went on to list Renaissance frescoes, the work of the Impressionists and Expressionists, the moderns and post-moderns, and names as his “fellow illustrators” a list of artists that range from Michelangelo to Wassily Kandinsky, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Howard Pyle, Dean Cornwell, Norman Rockwell, and Arthur Rackham. In such company, Mikolaycak’s work is distinguished by its truth to nature, clarity of line and color, and a convincing and consistently high level of draftsmanship that is as complex as it is modern and legible. The discussion that follows addresses specific art historical sources that appear to have influenced him or served him as a resource in his work: Pieter Bruegel "The Elder", Hippolyte-Jean Flandrin, Paul Gauguin, and Edvard Munch, among others.

Biographical Note:

Charles Mikolaycak was born in 1937 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Best known as an illustrator of children’s books, at an early age he demonstrated considerable artistic promise, and was encouraged by his parents to pursue his interest in art. In the process, he also developed a lifelong interest in theater and film, and appreciated the resources of popular culture and the picture press. While a student at Pratt Institute in New York City, Mikolaycak studied with the German-born American book illustrator and print maker, Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990), who became his mentor. After graduating from Pratt in 1958, Mikolaycak briefly attended New York University. In 1960 he left for Germany where he worked briefly as an illustrator and designer in the Hamburg studio of Dudley DuCrot. He was inducted into the army and spent twp years at the Pentagon as a draftsman and designer. He subsequently worked at Time-Life Books for 13 years, during which time he met and married Carole Kismaric, then a Time-Life pictures editor. He left Time-Life to work from his studio as an independent illustrator of children’s books. Charles Mikolaycak died in Manhattan in 1993. His wife and sometime collaborator, Carole Kismaric, died in 2002.