Artist Profile: Krystyna Turska

Krystyna Zofia Turska was born in 1933 and spent her childhood in Poland until World War II. In 1940 Krystyna was arrested with her family and taken to a concentration camp in Russia. She escaped to Persia and finally reached England in 1948. Krystyna studied at the Hammersmith School of Art and became an illustrator and author of children's books. 

I first stumbled across Krystyna Turska's wonderful illustrations in Alan Garner's 'A Book of Goblins', his fantastic collection of folklore, myths and legends. It is in this setting that her work functions perfectly, her expressive style evoking the spirit of ancient civilisations and their visual storytelling. The panels below accompany the Celtic legend, 'The Voyage of Maelduin':

Eastern European fairy tales and folklore featured heavily in Krystyna's own books, 'Tamara & the Sea Witch' is a great example. A poor young maiden named Tamara is out gathering mushrooms when a voice from a well asks her to marry him. Taken by the gentleness and sweetness of his voice she accepts. As it turns out he is a prince and his palace and riches are hers with one caveat. They can only be together three days a year and she must never ask his name. But this is hard for Tamara as she is lonely. An old woman tells her to make the prince tell her his name so that he will stay forever. But the old woman is the sea witch who has tricked Tamara. Upon telling Tamara his name he disappears under the sea. After that it's up to Tamara to rescue her prince.

Some of Krystyna Turska's books include: 
Coppelia the Story of the Ballet (1985) 
How the Camel Got His Hump: And How the Whale Got His Throat 
The Elephant's Child 
The Woodcutter's Duck (1972) 
A Cavalcade of Sea Legends (1971) 
A Cavalcade of Goblins (1969), A Cavalcade of Witches (1966) 
A Cavalcade of Dragons (1970) 
Marra's World (1975) 
The Mouse and the Egg (1980) 
The King of the Golden River (1978) 
Tales From Central Russia (1978) 
The Trojan's Horse (1968)  

Every so often I discover a book cover by her, here's an interesting one from 1973:

Thanks to http://theartofchildrenspicturebooks.blogspot.co.uk for the Tamara scans and biographical information.