Six Crows

(Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1910 - Tuscany, Italy, 1999) Leo Lionni grew up in an artistic environment – ​​his mother had been an opera singer and his uncle Piet a great lover of painting – and from a young age he knew that this would be his destiny. However, his formal training was not artistic, as he earned a doctorate in Economics. In 1931 he settled in Milan and came into contact with graphic design. When he moved to the USA in 1939, he worked at an advertising agency in Philadelphia, at the Olivetti Corporation, and at Fortune magazine. Simultaneously, his fame as an artist also grew, and his paintings were exhibited in the best galleries, from the United States to Japan. As he himself said: 'Somehow, somewhere, art always expresses the feelings of childhood'. His first children's book only came to light in 1959 and arose almost by chance: during a train journey, he decided to entertain his grandchildren with a story made from pieces of tissue paper. Thus was born the "Little Blue and Little Yellow", which was followed by more than 40 critically acclaimed titles worldwide. For his merits as an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and designer, he received the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1984.