The Little Girl Made of Snow by Adrienne Ségur

The Little Girl Made of Snow by Adrienne Ségur

C. 1962

Color Lithographs

This enchanting winter-themed illustration highlights the signature style of renowned French artist Adrienne Ségur. Originally created as a full-page color plate for the 1962 Deluxe Golden Book anthology The Snow Queen and Other Tales, published by Golden Press, the scene masterfully blends European fairytale traditions with stylized folklore aesthetics. Set against a snowy forest under a full moon, the composition centers on an anthropomorphic fox wearing an intricately detailed, embroidered yellow tunic and holding a small instrument box. A young girl in traditional Slavic-style white attire with patterned red embroidery looks on warmly, accompanied by a spotted fawn leaping playfully by her side, a small winter bird on the snow-covered ferns below, and a rustic log dacha nestled in the background.

This plate exemplifies the mid-twentieth-century peak of commercial offset lithography, which allowed publishers to replicate Ségur’s layered original mediums of watercolor, gouache, pen, and ink with immense color fidelity. Active from the 1930s through the 1970s, Ségur became legendary for her meticulously detailed, luminescent fairytale worlds that favored romanticized, ethereal beauty over simpler mid-century cartoon styles. Her work on this landmark anthology remains highly significant to collectors of children's literature, representing a golden era of high-end, lavishly produced picture books that elevated children's commercial illustrations into celebrated works of decorative art

Dimensions: H 12” x 9” W

Condition: In very good condition