Tea at Trianon: Madeline in New York

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Madeline in New York

From the New York Historical Society:

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Madeline’s publication, the New-York Historical Society will honor the beloved schoolgirl and her creator Ludwig Bemelmans with an exhibition of more than 90 original artworks.

In addition to drawings from all six Madeline books, the exhibition will also feature Bemelmans' drawings of the old Ritz Hotel in New York, murals from a rediscovered Paris bistro, panels from the Onassis yacht, and a cache of fabrics based on an early picture book.

This exhibition was organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, Massachusetts. Support for Madeline in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans has been generously provided by Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Royce and The Walton Family Foundation.

Self-Guided Walking Tour of Bemelmans' New York

Explore the New York that Ludwig Bemelmans knew and loved! Artist Adrienne Ottenberg created Bemelmans' New York: A map of his favorite haunts, some still here and some departed to map significant locales in his and Madeline's New York life. (Read more.)