The Jean Thomson Collection of Original Art

The Jean Thomson Collection of Original Art was established in 1977 and was named for a distinguished children's Librarian and Head of Public Service at Toronto Public Library. This collection has over 5,000 original illustrations for children's books in a variety of media including watercolours, pen-and-ink drawings, woodcuts, and multimedia creations.  The collection includes representative works by many notable artists, from early works by Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway and Arthur Rackham to modern creations by illustrators such as Maurice Sendak, James Houston, Elizabeth Cleaver, Barbara Reid, Sydney Smith and Margaret Bloy Graham (creator of Harry the Dirty Dog and this special Osborne Collection image).

images courtesy of the Toronto Public Library