Zhenya Gay Explained

Zhenya Gay (born Eleanor Byrnes) (1906–1978) was an American writer and illustrator.

Biography

Eleanor Barnes was born in 1906 in Norwood, Massachusetts and, died August 3, 1978. She attended Columbia University, where she studied with Solon Borglum and Winold Reiss.^[1]

Her first artistic jobs as a freelancer were creating movie posters, newspaper advertisements, and costume designs for theater productions.^[2]

She spent several years traveling and living in Europe, Mexico, and Central America. In 1954, she left New York City for the Catskill Mountains.

She was in a relationship with Jan Gay (born Helen Reitman, daughter of Ben Reitman), a children's book writer.^[3]

In addition to her book illustrations, Gay also created standalone artworks, including aquatints, lithographs, and etchings. Her works are held in the permanent collections of several museums, including the University of Michigan Museum of Art,^{[4] [5]} the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,^[6] and the Seattle Art Museum.^[7]

The Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota holds much of her work, as does the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Gay died on August 3, 1978.

Selected works

• Pancho and His Burro, 1930
• The Shire Colt, 1931^[8]
• The Poems of Catullus, Translated by Horace Gregory, Illustrated by Zenya Gay. NY, Covici friede inc. publishers, 1933
• Sakimura, 1936^[9]
• Whistlers' Van, 1937
• The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde, 1937^[10]
• Manuelito of Costa Rica, 1940
• Look!, 1952
• Jingle Jangle Story, 1953
• The Major and His Camels by Miriam E. Mason. Macmillan, 1953.
• The Sugarbush Family by Miriam E. Mason. Macmillan, 1954.^[11]
• Wonderful Things, 1954
• The Dear Friends, 1959
• I'm Tired of Lions, 1961
• Who's Afraid?, 1965

Notes and References

1. Web site: StackPath . 2022-10-24 . www.lib.usm.edu.
2. Web site: Zhenya Gay Papers . 2021-03-12 . www.lib.usm.edu.
3. Book: Ryan, Hugh . When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History . 2019-03-05 . St. Martin's Press . 978-1-250-16991-4 . 168 . en.
4. Web site: Exchange: Nude . 2021-03-12 . exchange.umma.umich.edu.
5. Web site: Exchange: Cat . 2021-03-12 . exchange.umma.umich.edu.
6. Web site: 2015-05-08 . Nude reclining - Zhenya Gay . 2021-03-12 . FAMSF Search the Collections . en.
7. Web site: Seattle Art Museum: Artists: Zhenya Gay . 2023-07-20 . Seattle Art Museum . en.
8. Web site: Zhenya Gay. 2021-03-12. Britannica Kids. en-US.
9. Web site: Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction. 2021-03-12. Kirkus Reviews. en.
10. Book: Wilde. Oscar. The ballad of Reading Gaol. Rascoe. Burton. Gay. Zhenya. Fass. John S. Limited Editions Club. Harbor Press. Limited Editions Club. Limited Editions Club Collection (Library of Congress). 1937. English. 1669373.
11. Web site: Book Review: The Sugarbush Family . 2023-03-15 . Kirkus Reviews . en.