Montresor, Beni << MON treh sawr, BAY nee >> (1926-2001), an Italian-born artist, was an internationally famous designer of sets and costumes for operas, ballets, and motion pictures. Montresor was also an author and illustrator of children’s books. He won the 1965 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations for May I Bring a Friend? (1964), written by the American children’s author Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. The book is a fantasy in poetry about a boy who brings zoo animals to visit the king and queen. Then the animals invite the boy and the king and queen to the zoo for tea.
Montresor was an established theatrical designer before he began illustrating children’s books. He used pen-and-ink and colored drawings in his books that reflect the drama of his stage and film designs. Montresor’s studies of Italian painters of the Renaissance in Italy also influenced his style.
Montresor began his career as an illustrator with Margaret Wise Brown’s On Christmas Eve (1961). His first children’s book as an author was House of Flowers, House of Stars (1962), which he also illustrated. Montresor illustrated several fairy tales, including The Birthday of the Infanta and Other Tales (1982) by the Irish-born writer Oscar Wilde, The Nightingale (1985) by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, and the traditional tales Little Red Riding Hood (1991) and Hansel and Gretel (2001). He also wrote and illustrated The Witches of Venice (1963), I Saw a Ship A-Sailing (1967), A for Angel (1969), and Bedtime! (1978).
Montresor adapted several operas into picture books, including The Last Savage (1964) by the Italian-born American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, Cinderella (1965) by the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, and The Magic Flute (1966) by the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Montresor was born on March 31, 1926, in the village of Bussolengo, Italy, near Verona. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice from 1945 to 1949. Montresor studied costume and set design in Rome from 1950 to 1952 and then began his career as a stage and film designer. During his film career, he worked with such noted Italian directors as Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, and Roberto Rossellini. From 1960 until his death, he divided his time between the United States and Italy. Montresor died on Oct. 11, 2001.
