James Stevenson

The Lost and Found Lab is named in honor of cartoonist James Stevenson (1929-2017) and his New York Times series 'Lost and Found New York' (see here). The Lab celebrates Stevenson’s work as a renowned children’s book author and New Yorker writer, cover artist, and cartoonist. The Lost and Found Lab is the vision of artist Josie Merck, to whom Stevenson was married. 

Stevenson explored human comedy with energy and economy across many genres. He was an illustrator and author of over 100 children's books. Close to 2,000 of his cartoons appeared regularly in (and on the cover of) The New Yorker magazine.

His gift was wit and a punchline -- whether it be literary or visual -- and, usually, he got both with astounding alacrity.

When an artist-in-residence is invited to Lost and Found Lab, it's because we see a spirit of communication that is unique yet resounds universally and merits special time to be honed, whether it be on canvas, on paper, via voice, dance or instrument. 

To learn more about James Stevenson, we invite you to watch the award-winning documentary, "Stevenson: Lost and Found," available on Amazon. You can watch the trailer below.)

Throughout Jim's life, Stevenson painted still lifes, landscapes, figurative compositions, abstracts, and vistas capturing the stillness of a view from his studio window. Occasionally the works on canvas served as a simple warm-up exercise, and at other times - much, much more.   The slide shows below serve as an example of the themes that often repeated in Stevenson's works on canvas: 

Paintings

Abstracts

Chairs

Landscape

Postcards

Studio

Please contact janine@lostandfoundlab.org 
for inquiries regarding the Stevenson Painting Collection