Beni Montresor

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Beni Montresor, Photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1964.
Beni Montresor, Photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1964.

Beni Montressor (born March 31, 1926 in Bussoleno, Italy -- died October 11, 2001 in Verona, Italy) was a versatile Italian artist, set designer, and children's book illustrator. He won the Caldecott Medal in 1965 for May I Bring a Friend?. The Italian government knighted him in 1966 for his contributions to the arts.

Montressor was particularly known in the United States as a designer of sets, lighting and costumes for opera. He designed sets and costumes for the American premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera, The Last Savage at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. He also designed the evocative and ephemeral scenery and lighting for the Washington Opera/New York City Opera revival of the Montemezzi opera The Love of Three Kings in 1981.