Clement Hurd
Clement G. Hurd (January 12, 1908 – February 5, 1988) was an American artist. He is known for illustrations of children's picture books, especially collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown including Goodnight Moon (1947) and The Runaway Bunny (1942).
Biography
Early life
Hurd was born in New York City to Richard Melancthon Hurd, an economist and mortgage banker, and Lucy Gazzam Hurd. He was educated at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, then studied architecture at Yale University and painting with Fernand Léger in Paris.
Career
Hurd returned to New York in 1933 to work as a commercial artist. There Brown was an editor at Young Scott Books, as well as a writer of picture book texts. On seeing two of his paintings, she asked him if he would consider illustrating children's books. She wrote a text herself, for what became Bumble Bugs and Elephants (1938) —"perhaps the first modern board book for babies".
He also illustrated a number of books written by his wife Edith Thacher Hurd (a friend of Brown's) as well as a children's book written by Gertrude Stein, The World Is Round. He also wrote and illustrated the book Run, Run, Run.
