Cyndy Szekeres

Cyndy Szekeres (1933-2024) produced over 150 books for children including the popular Toby series. Growing up in the great depression, she drew on paper bags. Her father, a toolmaker, encouraged her to attend Pratt in order to pursue advertising but she had her heart set on becoming an illustrator.

Working for a New York City designer, she was able to illustrate for department store’s children’s fashion sections. The publishing house, Doubleday noticed her work and in 1959 asked her to illustrate a children’s book, and she never looked back. Her papers are housed at the University of Connecticut. Cyndy lived most of her life on a farm in Vermont full of the creatures she populated her books with.

If you are passing by the gallery mural, pause a moment to visit Cyndy’s character Toby, now immortalized on the second floor of the building for generations to come. R. Michelson Galleries has been honored to represent Cyndy’s amazing artwork and we hope, when you stop by to see it, that you will share your own stories about what her books have meant to you.