Ian Woodward Falconer was an American author and illustrator of children’s books and a designer of sets and costumes for the theater. He created 30 covers for The New Yorker as well as other publications.
Falconer was active in the world of theater design. In 1987, he assisted the artist David Hockney with the costume designs for the Los Angeles Opera’s production of Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, and in 1992, assisted Hockney with the Chicago Lyric Opera’s production of Puccini’s Turandot.
How did Ian Falconer die?
Falconer’s lawyer and agent Conrad M. Rippy said Falconer died Tuesday of natural causes while with family in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was 63. Falconer’s “Olivia” books featured a clever piglet with a great imagination named Olivia, a character he developed for his young niece in 1996. Family members and friends encouraged him to keep working on his character.
In 1999, Falconer designed scenery and costumes for the Boston Ballet’s production of Firebird, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. That same year, he designed the sets for Igor Stravinsky’s Scènes de Ballet, and in 2001, the sets and costumes for Felix Mendelssohn’s Variations Sérieuses, both choreographed for the New York City Ballet by Wheeldon.
