Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) German/American, Original Mixed Media on Paper. Crayon, watercolor, and ink in predominantly green colors form a view of a fairground in Europe, with a carousel in center and a booth with prizes on the right, as people stroll through. Signed bottom left. Attribution and age range of artist written on back with a different hand. 

Overall Size: 12 1/2 x 15 in. 

Sight Size: 7 x 9 1/4 in. 

Ludwig Bemelmans was born on April 27th, 1898 in Meran, Austria-Hungary (now part of Italy), to a Belgian painter who abandoned him, his pregnant mother, and his governess (also pregnant with his father’s child) in 1904. He grew up in Germany with a difficult childhood, and fled to the United States in 1916 after shooting a headwaiter at his uncle’s hotel. He joined the US Army in 1917 but was not sent to Europe because of his Germanic origins, and left as a Second Lieutenant, which allowed him to more easily gain American citizenship. Working in hotels to make ends meet, he began drawing and painting, teaching himself through making cartoons and experimenting with pen, ink, watercolor, and gouache, eventually leading to him becoming a full-time artist in 1926. In the 1930s he became a children’s author, with his most famous creation, Madeline, celebrated globally, and in print to this day. His artistic versatility extended beyond children’s literature to include adult novels, travel essays, and vibrant murals, most notably those found in the Carlyle Hotel’s Bemelmans Bar in New York City. Throughout his life he received prestigious accolades, including the Caldecott Medal for Madeline's Rescue, cementing his legacy as a master of whimsical storytelling and illustration, and his death in New York on October 1st, 1962 from pancreatic cancer was mourned around the world.

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