1978-80
Purchase College; Purchase, New York
B.F.A., with honors
1977
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of the Arts; New York, New York
1974-77
Istituto Statale d'Arte; Florence, Italy
Apprenticeship with Master Printer Paolo Tarchini
1971-77
Istituto Statale d'Arte; Florence, Italy
TEACHING
2008
• Visiting Lecturer for the Art & Art History Department; Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY.
•2005
• Instructor, SAW (Salem Art Works); Salem, NY
• Visiting Professor of Art, The University of Connecticut at
Storrs; Storrs, CT
• Instructor, The Waldorf School; Saratoga Springs, NY
1990
• Visiting
Professor, The School of Visual Arts; New York, NY
1984-86
• Visiting Professor, Istituto Statale d¹Arte;
Florence, Italy
1978-81
• Teaching Assistant, State University of New York at Purchase; Purchase, NY
BOOKS ILLUSTRATED
Volumes forming La Collana d’Oro, a collection of children’s classics; designed and illustrated by
Stephen Alcorn; Arnoldo Mondadori Editore; Verona, Italy:
I Viaggi di Gulliver, di Jonathan Swift;
Il Piccolo Lord Fauntleroy, di Frances Hodgson Burnett; Il Giro del Mondo in 80 Giorni, di Jules Verne; Le
Avventure di Tom Sawyer, di Mark Twain; Cuore, di Edmondo de Amicis; Pinocchio, di Carlo Collodi; Il
Richiamo della Foresta, di Jack London; Oliver Twist, di Charles Dickens; Piccole Donne, di Luisa May Alcott;
Alice, di Lewis Carroll; Peter Pan, di J. M. Barrie; L’Isola del Tesoro, di Robert Lewis Stevenson
Calendars:
Stephen Alcorn: The Bibliophiles Calendar: 1986; Meriden Stinehour Press
2002 Social Justice
Calendar; Bread & Roses Cultural Project For The Arts / SEIU
2003 Social Justice Calendar; Bread & Roses Cultural Project
For The Arts / SEIU
2008 Social Justice Calendar; Bread & Roses Cultural Project
For The Arts / SEIU
• A River Flows; Lola M. Schaefer; The Millbrook Press; publication date to be determined
• Hand In
Hand: Stories of Black Men In the Struggle For Freedom; Andrea Davis Pinkney; Harcourt, New York, NY; 2008
SELECTED FEATURE ARTICLES
U&LC:Stephen Alcorn’s Ritratti degli Artisti Piu Celebri, by Marion Muller, pg. 44-52; Volume
7, Number 4; 1981
U&LC; Stephen Alcorn Reinvents the Rooster, by Marion Muller, pg.10-11;
Volume 16, Number 3; 1989
U&LC; Lincoln: In His own Words: Stephen Alcorn Creates Dramatic Visuals for a New
Edition of the Speeches and Writings of the President , by Joyce Rutter Kaye, pg. 8-11; Volume 20, Number 2; 1993
GRAPHIS; Stephen Alcorn: Old World Wood Block Art Succeeds In the New World, by Steven Heller, pg. 52-59; 1987;
Number 249
PRINT; Chips & Blocks, by Rose DeNeve, pg. 35-39; 1987; Number XLI:III
PROMO, Vol.1;
Stephen Alcorn: A Cut Above, by Rose DeNeve, pg. 28-29; North Light Books; 1990
PRINT; Choice Cuts: Stephen
Alcorn Exploits the Linocut to Brilliant Effect, by Carol Stevens Kner, pg. 32-41; 1994; Number XLVIII:I
ABITARE; Cambridge, N.Y.: The Alcorn Studio & Gallery, by Gabriele Di Matteo, pg. 68-72; 1994; Number
335
LINEA GRAFICA; L’illustrazione di Stephen Alcorn, by Daniele Baroni, pg. 10-19; 1995; Number 296
GRAFICA & DISEGNO; Stephen Alcorn: Un’Illustratore a New York, by Miky Mangano, pg. 56-63; Spring1996
PROMETEO; L’Avventura del segno: Stephen Alcorn, un americano dal multiforme ingegno, by Pepa Sparti, pag.
54-78, number 62; June, 1998
GLENS FALLS JOURNAL; The Texture of Life: Cambridge Artist Stephen Alcorn Uses Variety of
Media To Create Striking Images; by Patti Croop; pg.1 and 11; Volume 13, Number 2; April, 2001
THE SCHENECTADY
GAZETTE / Arts & Entertainment Section; Faces of Courage: Alcorn Paints Women Freedom Fighters; by Wendy Liberatore;
Section G; pg. G1, G2; 5/6/01
THE POST STAR / THE SCENE; History In Color: Exhibit Celebrates Freedom
Fighters; by Stacey Morris; 2/15/01
THE POST STAR / ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT; The Right Impression: Illustrator
Stephen AlcornWorks From Inner Space; by Stacey Morris; pg. D1, D5
PRINT; I Know It¹s Only Rock Œn Roll...
Stephen Alcorn¹s Modern Music Masters Gives New Life and Luster to Pop Icons; by Steven Brodner, pg. 68-71; 2003; Number
LVII:I
H.W. Wilson Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators; New Volume in Acclaimed Biographical Series
Profiles Authors & Illustrators of Books for Children and Young Adults
HILL COUNTRY OBSERVER; January-February, 2005;
Feature article, Arts & Culture section; page. 16-17; author: Stacey Morris
LINEA GRAFICA; Per un’iconografia della musica moderna, by Daniele Baroni, pg. 24-33; 2006; Number 366
La Pittura di Stephen Alcorn: Paesaggi, Nature Morte & Ritratti; Il Chiostro di Santa Chiara; Siena,
Italy; Fall 1982
Furrowed Brows: Selected Linocuts by Stephen Alcorn ; Hopkins Center / Dartmouth College;
Hanover, N.H.; Fall 1987
Stephen , Sabina & John Alcorn: Botanicals, Watercolors and Prints; The
Atrium Gallery / UCONN at Storrs; Storrs, CT; Fall 1988
Old Lyme Celebrates: A Mid-Summer Festival of the Arts
; Old Lyme, CT; Summer 1987; Summer 1988
New Talent ; Washington Art Association; Washington, Ct;
Winter 1988-1989
Opening Show ; Lustrare Gallery; Soho, New York; Fall 1990
Art for Survival: The
Illustrator & the Environment; The Society of Illustrators; New York; Summer 1990
Stephen & John Alcorn:
Prints, Watercolors & Paintings ; Lustrare Gallery; Soho, New York; Fall 1991
The Life & Times of
Abraham Lincoln / Prints by Stephen Alcorn ; Donnell Library / The New York Public Library; January -
February 1994
Stephen & Sabina Fascione Alcorn: Intimate Portraits, Recent Botanicals; The Valley
Artisan’s Market Gallery; Cambridge, New York; Fall 1994
Original Art ‘94: The Best in Children’s Book
Illustration; The Society of Illustrators; New York, New York; Fall 1994
Frederick Douglass & His
Contemporaries: 48 Linocuts by Stephen Alcorn; Donnell Library / The New York Public Library; Black History Month
1995
Original Art ‘95: The Best in Children’s Book Illustration ; The Society of Illustrators; New
York, New York; Fall 1995
The Life & Times of Frederick Douglass: An Exhibition of (64) Linocuts by Stephen
Alcorn; The Bread & Roses Cultural Project for the Arts; New York, New York; January - March 1995
The Art of
Stephen & Sabina Fascione Alcorn; The Atrium Gallery / UCONN at Storrs; Storrs, CT; January -February 1996
FREE AT LAST! 72 Linocuts by Stephen Alcorn ; Paul Robeson Center, Penn State; University Park, PA; Spring
1996
Stephen & Sabina Fascione Alcorn: Recent Works; Smith Center for the Arts, Burr & Burton
Seminary; Manchester, Vermont; Spring 1996
From Nature’s Kingdom: Animal Prints and Botanical Watercolors by
Stephen and Sabina Fascione Alcorn; The Village Framer & Gallery; Greenwich, New York; Summer 1996
Things
Seen, Things Dreamed: Selected Works by Stephen and Sabina Alcorn ; The Left Bank Gallery; Bennington, Vermont; April
16 - May 21, 1997
Decorator’s Showcase House ‘97; (Presented by The Bennington Museum); The Dorset
Green; Dorset, Vermont; June 2 - June 21, 1997
The Art of the Hunt #1; Pheasant Ridge Gallery; Greenwich, N.Y.;
Fall 1997
LANGSTON HUGHES: Allegorical Portraits / Featuring 24 “grisaille” paintings and 6
pastel portraits by Stephen Alcorn; The Bread & Roses Cultural Project for the Arts; New York, N.Y. ; January 15 - February
27th, 1998
The Artist and His Muse: Choice Family Portraits; Bean Heads’ Coffee House; Cambridge, N.Y.;
December 6, 1997 - March 6, 1998
The Art of the Hunt #2; Pheasant Ridge Gallery; Greenwich, N.Y.;
August-October, 1998
Black & Blue: 24 Paintings by Stephen Alcorn Celebrating the Life and Times of Langston
Hughes ; The Donnell Library; New York, N.Y.; August-September, 1998
Simple Speaks His Mind: A Selection of
Poetry-Inspired Mixed Media Works by Stephen Alcorn; Bean Heads’ Coffee Shop; Cambridge, N.Y.; October 2 - November
2, 1998
Original Art ‘98: The Best in Children’s Book Illustration; The Society of Illustrators; New
York, New York; Fall 1998
The New York Public Library's annual CHILDREN'S BOOKS, 1998 / 100 Best Titles for
Reading and Sharing exhibition; Donnell Library Center ; November17, 1998 - January 4th, 1999
The Art
of the Hunt #3; Pheasant Ridge Gallery; Greenwich, N.Y.; July-August, 2000
Modern Music Masters: Rock
Icons; Bean Head’s Coffee House,Cambridge, N.Y.; 5/5/00-9/5/00
Mind Over Matter / Selected Works
by Stephen Alcorn 1980-2000; Dwight Marvin Library, Hudson Valley Community College Gallery,Troy, N.Y.;
8/26/00-10/5/00
Let It Shine / Allegorical Portraits of Black Women Freedom Fighters; The Crandall Public
Library, Glens Falls, NY; 2/1/01-6/30/01
Let It Shine / Allegorical Portraits of Black Women Freedom
Fighters;21 oils by Stephen Alcorn; Bean Heads Coffee House; Cambridge, New York; 8/01-11/01
Homage To Moe
Foner An exhibition featuring the work of twelve artists (as represented in the Gallery 2002 1199/SEIU Social Justice
Calendar); The Bread & Roses Cultural Project for the Arts; New York, N.Y. ; December 11 2001 - January 31, 2002
White On White An exhibition of 9 (white) papier mache masks by Stephen Alcorn; Bean Heads Coffee House;
Cambridge, New York; 12/01-2/02
Modern Library Classics An exhibition of 17 black and white woodcuts by
Stephen Alcorn; Barnes & Noble; Saratoga Springs, New York; 2/01/02‹3/01/02
Modern Music Masters An
exhibition of 17 polychrome woodcuts by Stephen Alcorn; Barnes & Noble; Saratoga Springs, New York; 9/01/03 ‹ 10/01/03
Social Justice; Group exhibit; Bread & Roses Cultural Project For The Arts Gallery / SEIU; New York, NY;
12/3/02‹1/15/03
We Make The Road By Walking; Group exhibit; Bread & Roses Cultural Project For The Arts
Gallery / SEIU; New York, NY; 12/3/03-1/18/04
The Relief-Block Prints of Stephen Alcorn One-man exhibit;
The University of Connecticut at Storrs; Homer Babbidge Library, the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, and the Music &
Dramatic Arts Building Library ; January-May, 2005; Curators: David Kapp and Tracey Rudnick
Landscapes For Landsake; Maple Ridge, Cambridge, New York; October 8-15, 2005; Agricultural Stewardship Association
Bookmarks; 22 Haviland Street Gallery; May 5-28, 2006; South Norwalk, CT
Landscapes For Landsake; Maple Ridge, Cambridge, New York; October 8-15, 2006; Agricultural Stewardship Association
Landscapes For Landsake; Maple Ridge, Cambridge, New York; October 8-15, 2007; Agricultural Stewardship Association
Bread & Roses Cultural Project For The Arts Gallery / SEIU; New York, NY; 1/14/08 - 2/14/08
S.E.I.U Social Justice Exhibit; Group exhibit; Bread & Roses Cultural Project For The Arts Gallery / SEIU; New York, NY; 12/3/07‹1/15/08
Modern Music Masters; Vermont Arts , North Bennington, VT; 69 selected portraits; April 25th thru August 15th, 2008
SELECTED PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
The Library of Congress
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Magazines:
American Heritage
Atlantic Monthly
Audubon
Brooklyn Bridge Magazine
Esquire
Forbes
Harpers
Hippocrates Magazine
Life
Ms. Magazine
Money Magazine
Omni
Prometeo; Milan, Italy
Rolling Stone
Sunrise Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
Teaching Tolerance
Time
Texas Monthly
Travel Holiday
Trust (The Pew Charitable Trusts)
Utne Reader
Word Perfect
Annual Reports:
General Re Corporation
Southwestern Bell Foundation
The Washington Post
Crane Paper Company
Xerox
Corporation
Jewish Health Foundation
Andrea Merzario S.p.A.; Milan, Italy
Paper Manufacturers:
Champion International
Georgia Pacific
Hopper Paper Company
James River Corporation
Mohawk Paper Company
Simpson Paper Company
Strathmore
Westvaco
Record Companies:
CBS Records; New York
Elektra
Records; New York
Messagerie Musicali; Milan, Italy
Sweet and Happy Recordings; White Creek, New York
SaveLove Music; North Bennington, Vermont
CHRONOLOGY
1958
• Born in New York City, the third son of
designer John Alcorn (1935-1992), founding member, along with Milton Glaser an Seymour Chwast, of
Push Pin Studios.
1971
• Moved with family to Florence, Italy.
1971-77
• Attends the fabled Istituto Statale d'Arte, an experience that left an indelible impression upon him, and infused his work with a passion for bold
technical experimentation in a wide range of
mediums -- including, but not limited to, painting, lithography, intaglio, silk screen
and the relief block print; among his instructors are Marc Lukolic and Roberta Mugnai.
• Conducts his first
experiments within the realm of the relief-block print.
• Servs an apprenticeship with Master Printer Paolo Tarchiani
(printing, among other things, limited-editions of Marino Marini's etchings and lithographs).
• Meets his future wife, textile designer and botanical artist Sabina Fascione.
1975
• Designs and illustrates Il Naso, by Nicholaj Gogol.
1977
• Returns to the U.S.
• Attends The Cooper Union for the Advancement of the Arts and
Sciences in New York City.
1978-80
• Attends S.U.N.Y. at Purchase (attracted by superior facilities and greater independence),
where he studies with Michael Torlen and Antonio Frasconi.
• Majors in printmaking and painting. • Received a
BFA; graduates with honors.
• Completes the series of c. 45 linocut portraits entitled Ritratti degli Artisti Piu Celebri; Herb Lubalin takes note of this cycle of limited-edition
prints and publishes them in the graphic arts journal U&LC.
1981
• Returnes to Italy and marries botanical artist and textile designer Sabina Fascione.
• Lives and
paintsd in il quartiere di Santo Spirto, located in the heart of Florence, Italy.
• Begins the ongoing collaboration with a variety of Italian publishers who
make extensive use of his prints, paintings and illustration.
• Begins ongoing series of portraits of 20th century literary figures for
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, Italy; portraits adorn the dust jackets and frontispieces of the comprehensive series
entitled Grandi del Novecento.
1982
• One-man exhibition of
paintings at Il Chiostro di Santa Chiara, a 13th century monastery in Siena, Italy. On this occasion, a series of recent
oil paintings were exhibited,consisting of Tuscan landscapes, still-lifes, and portraits.
• Random House of New
York commissions the extensive series of highly interpretive black and white linocut prints destined to adorn the dust jackets
and frontispieces of the entire collection of Modern Library literary classics; titles range
from Plato’s Republic to Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. Provides the basis for the design of the
series.
• As exclusive cover artist for the prestigious Frassinelli Editore; Milan, Italy, creates numerous
paintings and prints.
1985
• Illustrates John Brown’s Body, by Stephen Vincent Benet;
The Franklin Mint; New York, New York.
1986
• Returns to the U.S.. • Continues to work with
major American and Italian publishers, devoting himself entirely to the art of printmaking.
• Transcends the
constraints of the black and white print; focus: the realm of the color print.
1987
• Furrowed Brows, a retrospective of 60 of the artist’s
black and white inspired by literary themes, is held at Hopkins Center; Dartmouth College; Hanover, N.H..
• A
survey of the artist’s black and white book-related work appears in Graphis; article by Steven Heller.
•
Collaborates with Pulitzer Prize-winning author and playwright David Mamet, illustrating the children’s book The Owl, published by The Kipling Press.
• Celebrates the animal kingdom
with Il Bestiario Straordinario, a series of c. 48 color relief-block prints employing
novel techniques. Themes are inspired by the farmland surrounding the artist’s new home.
1988-89
• Reverses the traditional printing process of printing dark tones over light tones by cutting he blocks in negative and
then printing light tones over dark tones, thus achieving a degree of translucency, fluidity, and delicacy if line that is
worthy of etching and lithography. Employs this technique with a wide range of subjects, most notably in portraits of his wife
and two daughters, and in portraits of celebrated authors and musicians.
• In an article by Marion Muller entitled
Stephen Alcorn Reinvents the Rooster, the magazine U&LC features for the first time the artist’s cycle of
animal prints, entitled Il Bestiario Straordinario.
• Milton Glaser, while
engaged in the interior design of the Manhattan restaurant Trattoria dell’Arte, commissions fifteen color portraits
of celebrated Italian artists, still adorning on the walls of said establishment, located across from Carnegie Hall in
New York City.
1990-91
• Exploration of relief-block printing processes culminate in the
development and extensive use of the Reduction Print technique, first introduced by Picasso in 1959.
• Pushes the
boundaries of Picasso’s invention, achieving in various cycles of prints a degree of luminosity and subtle gradation that
is normally associated with only the most complex oil painting techniques.
• Two man show at Lustrare Gallery,
in New York City, with his father, John Alcorn. On this occasion 45 of his novel reduction prints are exhibited for the first time.
• Illustrates with a series of oil on paper paintings
the children’s book entitled Rembrandt’s Beret or The Painter’s Crown; William
Morrow Publishers, New York. Conceived with the artist’s brother John H. Alcorn, the book chronicles a magical day in the
life of an aspiring artist in turn of the century Florence, Italy.
1992 • Appointed exclusive cover artist
for the prestigious Italian cultural and scientific quarterly Prometeo, interpreting in full
color a wide range of complex themes, ranging from the depletion of the Rain Forest to the development of Einstein's Theory of
Relativity.
• Illustrates the Harcourt Brace & Company Anthology of Drama; edited by W.B. Worthen.
1993-1994
• The Fall of 1993 marks the opening to the general public of The Alcorn Studio
& Gallery, a multifaceted workshop/gallery featuring a variety of painting, printmaking, and art of the book
activities.
• (In a return to the black and white print) illustrates the anthology Abraham
Lincoln: In His Own Words (Link to Lincoln imagery)
, as well as its companion piece Frederick Douglass: In His Own Words. Both volumes were edited by Milton Meltzer and are published by
Harcourt Brace & Company. Guided by the conviction that to understand these men one must see them in the context of their
particular time, a series of portraits of contemporary Americans (whose influence affected their perceptions of the world
around them) is included, along with accompanying biographical profiles.
• A selection of c. 64 of the Lincoln/Douglass
related images formed the basis of the Frederick Douglass & His Times
exhibition held at the Bread & Roses Cultural Project in February, 1995 in
New York City, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Frederick Douglass.
• Carol Stevens chronicles the
development of the artist’s work in Print magazine; cover story.
• Children’s
book division of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore commissions the design and illustration of La Biblioteca d’Oro, a
collection of 14 literary classics for children; illustrations are characterized by the
delicate use of lithographic crayon and watercolor on paper.
1995
• The Alcorn Studio & Gallery
ventures into publishing with 12 Flowers: A Collection of Botanical Watercolors by Sabina Fascione
Alcorn; featuring one dozen exquisitely printed, and readily frame able 11’’ x 14’’ prints.
•
Creates the cover art for 31 titles that form the series entitled African American Women Writers 1910-1940. The series
is published by DH Hall, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Company. Managing Editor of the series: Henry Louis Gates Jr.
• WBAI Radio, New York, opens its Fourth of July celebration with a half hour live interview with the artist, focusing on
the illustrations to Frederick Douglass: In His Own Words; Harcourt Brace &
Company; 1995.
• Frederick
Douglass: In His Own Words receives the Parents Choice Honor Award from the Parent’s Choice
Foundation.
• WAMC Radio, Albany interview with the artist featuring discussion about the inspiration and craft
behind the Lincoln and Douglass anthologies; interview is aired on January 24, 1997.
• Linea Grafica publishes
major, bilingual cover story on the artist’s work, featuring 49 images spanning a 15 year period; Milan,Italy.
1996
• Illustrates (with 24 grisaile paintings) a biography of Lansgton
Hughes, written by Milton Meltzer and published by The Millbrook Press; Brookfield, CT; Spring, 1997.
• Free at
Last, an exhibition of 72
color linocuts celebrating the African American struggle for freedom in 19th century America, is held at the Paul Robeson
Cultural Center, Penn State; University Park, PA.
• 24 samples of the artist’s work are selected for inclusion in
the volume titled Illustration: America / 25 Outstanding Portfolios(a juried survey of contemporary American
illustration); Rockport Allworth Press
1997
• The book jacket of the volume entitled Langston Hughes: An
Illustrated Edition wins second prize for best cover of the year at the annual New York Book Show.
• Creates 36
mixed media images for the volume I,Too. Sing America: Three Centuries of African
American Poetry; edited by Professor Catherine Clinton; published by Houghton Mifflin in the Fall of 1998.
1998
• Illustrates major poetry atlas for Simon & Schuster, entitled My
America; edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins; published in the Fall of 2000.
• Illustrated The
Artist of the Missing; Paul Lafarge; Farrar Straus & Giroux; Sring, 1999.
• WBAI Radio Pacifica in New York
conducts hour long live interview. Interviewers: Mimi Rosenberg and Kenneth Nash.
• News Channel 13 / WNYT - Albany
aired feature on The Alcorn Studio & Gallery (segment: ’Back Roads’; reporter: Steve Scoville; date aired:
3/31/98).
• Received the 1998 Carter G. Woodson Book Award for contribution to Langston Hughes: An Illustrated Edition.
• I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry is selected by The
New York Public Library for inclusion in its annual list of the 100 Best Titles for Reading and Sharing
• Marked
the launch into cyberspace of www.alcorngallery.com
1999
• Illustrates Let It Shine, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book;
Andrea Davis Pinkney; Harcourt Brace & Co.; published in the Fall of 2000.
• Conceives ongoing series entitled Modern Music Masters, designed to pay homage to those men and women who bridged the gaps between tradition and
innovation, craft and genius, entertainment and art, music and poetry, composition and improvisation, black and white; first
volume in a series is published in the Fall of 2003
• Paintes a series of formal oil portraits of Trinity College faculty members.
• Begins ongoing
association with Religion In the News, a quarterly published by The Pew Charitable Trusts in conjunction with
Trinity College in Hartfortd, CT. The imagery for each issue, comprising three interior illustrations and cover art as
well as decorative design elements throughout, involves the satirical interpretation of
current religious/political events.
• Exhibited cycle of original Let It Shine oil paintings at The Crandall Library in Glens Falls.
• Illustrates My America; Lee Bennett Hopkins; volume is
published in 2001 by Simon & Schuster.
• Illustrated Let
It Shine!; Andrea Davis Pinkney; Harcourt Brace & Co.; volume in published in the Fall of 2000.
• Assigned the
illustration and design of a cycle of six YA volumes dedicted to the Holocaust; 21st century books; Author: Ted Gottfried.
2000
• Illustrates Hoofbeats, Claws, and Rippled Fins:
Creature Poems; Edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins; Harper Collins; volume was published in Spring of 2002
• Illustrates
Home To Me / Poems Across America; Lee Bennett Hopkins
anthologist; volume is published in Fall of 2002.
• My America makes the Fall 2000 American Bookselers; Association
Pick of the Lists list; is selected for the New York Public Library's annual "Children's Books, 2000 - 100 Titles for Reading
and Sharing" list; is featured in the Cuyahoga County Public Library¹s annual "Children's Books to Read and Own" list of
recommended titles; is chosen for inclusion in The Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education's list of
recommended titles; is the recipient of the Parent's Guide / Children's Media Award 2000 (Poetry Book Award) artwork adorning.
In addition, the original art for My America is selected for display in the annual Society of Illustrators "ORIGINAL ART 2000"
exhibition (December 6th, 2000, through January 6, 2001, 128 East 63rd Street in New York).
• Let it Shine appears on
The Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education's list of recommended titles; receives the 2000 Carter G.
Woodson Book Award; is chosen for inclusion in "The Original Art 2000" Society of Illustrators Show;
2001
• Completes cycle of six volumes dedicted to the Holocaust; 21st century books; Author: Ted Gottfried.
•
Illustrates Broken Feather, by Verla Kay; volume is
published by Putnam & Sons in fall of 2002.
The following feature articles are published:
•GLENS FALL JOURNAL; The Texture of Life: Cambridge Artist
Stephen Alcorn Uses Variety of Media To Create Striking Images; by Patti Croop; pg.1 and 11; Volume 13, Number 2; April, 2001
•THE SCHENECTADY GAZETTE / Arts & Entertainment Section; Faces of Courage: Alcorn Paints Women Freedom Fighters; by
Wendy Liberatore; Section G; pg. G1, G2; 5/6/01
•THE POST STAR / THE SCENE; History In Color: Exhibit Celebrates
Freedom Fighters; by Stacey Morris; 2/15/01
•THE POST STAR / ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT; The Right Impression: Illustrator
Works From Inner Space; by Stacey Morris; pg. D1, D5
2002
• Illustrates A Poem of Her Own / Voices
of American Women Yesterday & Today; casein on paper; Edited by Catherine Clinton; published by Harry N. Abrams in Spring of
2003.
• Illustrates The Book of Rock Stars: 24 Musical Icons that Shine
Through History; polychrome relief-block prints; Kathleen Krull; Edited by Alessandra Balzer; published by Hyperion in
Spring of 2004.
2003
• Illustrates A River Flows; Lola M. Schaefer;
Millbrook Press; published in Spring of 2005
• Illustrates The Organic Gardener: The Gardener's A-Z Guide To Growing Organic
Food; Tanya L. K. Denckla; Storey; published in Spring of 2004
• Illustrates Days To Celebrate / An Almanac of People, Events, and Poetry;
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins; Greenwillow Books For Children; volume is published in Spring of 2004
• PRINT
publishes: I Know It's Only Rock'n Roll... Stephen Alcorn's Modern Music Masters Gives New Life and Luster to Pop Icons; Steven
Brodner, pg. 68-71; 2003; Number LVII:I
• Featured in the Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators. This series,
published by the H. W. Wilson Company, is the oldest of its kind in the field. It features autobiographical pieces by authors
and illustrators of books for children and teenagers and is widely used in school and public libraries as an authoritative
source for information for children and adults who work with them. The selection of approximately 200 authors and artists to be
included in this volume is determined by consulting with children¹s literature specialists around the country. The first volume
in this series was published in 1934 and all volumes are currently in print; Editor: Connie C. Rockman.
• Children's Book Council (May, 2003); website
dedicates a permanent web page to his illustration work. Editor: Lynne Mahley.
2004
• Is commissioned to illustrate and design the annual Children¹s Book Council frieze
• Concieves the bi-weekly newspaper
feature entitled The Visionary's Almanac. Publisher: MAIN STREET: A Newspaper For
Washington County; Contributing author: John Savelove
• Illustrates Elizabeth Blackwell: Medical Pioneer; Scottt Foresman; published
in Spring of 2005
2005
• University of Connecticut at Storrs: one-man exhibit featuring the entire Modern Music Masters series of portraits; exhibit is held in the Homer Babbidge Library, the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, and the Music & Dramatic Arts
Building Library ; January-May, 2005
• Invited by The School of Fine Arts of the University of Connecticut at Storrs
to teach Illustration 271, a multi-media studio/illustration course (Spring semester, 2005).
2006
• Illustrates America At War: Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins; (Atheneum)
• Executes a series of portraits of legendary italian folk songer/songwriter Fabrizio de Andrè destined to adorn the volume titled FABRIZIO DE ANDRÈ: Un¹autobiografia per parole e immagini (a cura di Guido Harari; Rizzoli; 2008)
2007
• Illustrates Yours For Justice, Ida B. Wells: The Darigg Life of A Crusading Journalist; (Peachtree; author: Pulitzer Prize recipient Philip Dray)
• Illustrates The Spy Who Came In From The Cold; John le Carrrè (Oak Tree Press; London, England)
2008
• Is Visiting Lecturer for the Art & Art History Department at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs. NY.
• Devises a multi-media course for advanced senior art majors at Skidmore titled FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING, or, THE ILLUSTRATED WORD.
Course description:
Students will develop ways in which, through a discerning marriage of text and highly symbolic and illustrative elements, they might breathe new life to such age-old words as: LOVE, PEACE, WISDOM and JUSTICE, arriving at solutions through an interdisciplinary inquiry. The course will be divided into four intervals--one for each concept, and lasting three weeks--with the final project being devoted to crafting an articulate and eloquent verbal and visual presentation of one's particular creative process and/or processes.
• Writes, designs and illustrates A Gift of Days, featuring 52 original polychrome relief-block portraits ()Atheneum; Fall 2009)
• Writes designs and illustrates Odetta: The Queen of Folk, a picture-book biography chronicling the life and times of folk legend Odetta (Scholastic, Fall, 2009)
• Designs and illustrates Keep On!, a picture-book biography celebrating the life of Mattthew Henson, African-American co-discoverer of the North Pole; (Peachtree; February, 2009).
• Vermont Arts Exchange (North Bennington, VT) hosts a one-man exhibit featuring a selction of 69 Modern Music Masters portraits; April 25th thru August 15th, 2008.
• 9 portraits of Fabrizio De Andrè are selected for inclusion in the upcoming exhibition celebratibng the life and times of Fabrizio deAndrè to be held at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, Italy.
PERSONAL
While born in the U.S., Stephen Alcorn spent his formative years in Florence, Italy. It was there that he attended the Istituto Statale d¹Arte, an experience that left an indelible impression upon him and infused his work with a passion for bold technical experimentation in a wide range of mediums. Mr. Alcorn¹s work hangs in numerous private and permanent collections, both in the United States and in Europe. Major publishers throughout the world routinely employ his award winning portraiture and illustration, and his work has been the subject of numerous feature magazine articles appearing in Print, Graphis, U&LC, Linea Grafica, Grafica & Disegno, Prometeo, and Abitare. Since 1986, Stephen Alcorn lives with his wife, Sabina Fascione, and two daughters, Lucrezia and Ludovica, in an 18th century farmhouse with an adjacent studio/carriage house in the village of Cambridge, New York. Stephen Alcorn frequently lectures on the art of printmaking. In addition to being a visual artist and teacher, Stephen is a guitarist and songwriter. He is a co-founder of the musical ensemble ADESSO, and performs frequently in the Albany, Saratoga Springs and Bennington regions.
WORDS OF PRAISE
"Whether he's interpreting the face of a famous author like Solzhenitsyn, illustrating with impeccable skill and sharp irony a
scene from Malraux's Man's Hope, or taking on an entire novel, such as Paul LaFarge's The Artist of the Missing, there's no
question that Stephen Alcorn is one of our most technically sophisticated and inspired of artists. The sheer craftsmanship is
breathtaking, revealing a kind of artistry that hasn't existed for half a century, nearly obsessed with clean lines, the
interplay of light and dark, the myriad possibilities offered by a centimeter of space, a delight in structure, design and
texture. But more than the technique is the imagination and visual acuity Alcorn brings to his subjects: playing with
perspectives, jostling with angles, combining foreshortened, exterior scenes with larger, emotional interiors, setting our
expectations on head so we look, and look again, and marvel. This is multi-dimensional work in the true sense of the term:
layered, split-imaged, resonating with multiple--sometimes complementary, sometimes contradictory--meanings, brilliantly
executed, unfailingly interesting. Throughout his oeuvre Alcorn has lifted "the veil of familiarity," to use the phrase
popularized by Wordsworth and Coleridge when stating the mission of the romantic poets. We see the world anew through his eyes,
and remain, always, the richer for it."
-John A. Glusman
Vice President & Executive
Editor,
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
"Not since the Belgian master Frans Masereel (1889 - 1972) has an artist reached such elevated heights in the art of
printmaking"
-Daniele Baroni, Critic and Art Historian
From the cover story entitled The Art of
Stephen Alcorn
Linea Grafica, Number 296; Pg. 10-19; Milano, Italy; 1995
"It wasn¹t an urge to play God that prompted Stephen Alcorn to reinvent the rooster, the cow, dog, owl, frog, tiger and even the Himalayan yak. It¹s more a case of ³the divine discontent of the truly creative mind² that bars him from repeating what has been done before. In his prints, with Medici-like indulgence, Alcorn has permitted himself every whim. The plates are saturated with texture, the borders are bursting with design themes and the animals themselves are invested with heroic and magical powers. The cow is capable of infinite pales of milk, the frog will turn into a prince momentarily, the valiant horse carries his knight to victory, the cat can cast spells and make sad princesses smile."
-Marion Muller
from Stephen Alcorn Reinvents the Rooster
U&LC, volume 16, number 3, summer 1989