Ludwig Bemelmans

The Illustrators

by Laurie Britton-Newell, Quentin Blake, Claudia Zeff (Series Editor)

While almost everybody knows Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline, the fact that the illustrator published over forty other titles remains a well-kept secret. The first title in Thames & Hudson’s brand-new series, this book offers a visually rich insight into the life and work of this important artist and writer.

Ludwig Bemelmans grew up under the Austro-Hungarian empire and emigrated to the United States in his late teens, just escaping the outbreak of the First World War. His illustrations for the Madeline books offer a classic vision of Paris that has created a lasting impression on millions of readers. And every illustrator would love to know how he conveyed all the emotions of a spirited little girl drawn with just a few lines and dots; how did he achieve such clarity in simplicity?

Laurie Britton Newell’s illustrated essay gathers material from Bemelmans’ diverse oeuvre, from novels, autobiographical stories, humorous articles and comic strips to murals and menus for hotels and restaurants. The book makes accessible this mesmerizing material, which is otherwise lost to the public, and connects it to the artist’s intriguing life. An icon of a fascinating era, Bemelmans through his magical work gives us glimpses of a life that embodied both hard work and glamour, in Paris and New York.

Genres: Art, Biography, Literature, Nonfiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 2019

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The starter in a proposed series of books by Thames and Hudson on illustrators, Ludwig Bemelmans
is an ideal beginning volume. He is sui generis - self taught, instantly recognizable, attractive to all ages. The text is workmanlike, there are, of course, wonderful illustrations and photos, but really, in the end, Bemelmans tells his own story best.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but informative biography of Bemelmans and loads of illustrations, both rough and finished, from the kids' books to his adult stuff -- comic strips, novels, magazine articles and restaurant murals in New York and Paris. Excellent as far as it goes, though with too much attention for my taste to "Madeline" and its successors, which everyone's already familiar with, and not enough to obscurities like "The Thrilling Adventures of Count Bric a Brac," which ran in the New York World, never got syndicated, and died after six months.* The best thing to do, if you like his drawings and paintings, is to get hold of the actual books, some of them pretty thoroughly forgotten, especially "My Life in Art" (can't link it, Goodreads thinks this refers to something with a similar title by Rainn Wilson) and The Best of Times: An Account of Europe Revisited, along with the better-known Hotel Splendide, "Life Class" and the other hotel memoirs.

*I can hear the publisher pointing out that if they did it my way, no one would read the book except me. But think of the four-star review I'd give it!

[Rita Brondolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amo tantissimo questa serie pubblicata in Italia da Lupo Guido editore. Così ogni Natale faccio in modo di avere uno di questi volumi nuovo da leggere. Quest'anno è toccato a Bemelmans, illustratore che non conoscevo che dal volume mi sembra noto per aver creato il personaggio di Madeline. Artista austriaco che ha vissuto gran parte della sua vita tra alberghi di ĺusso e viaggi. Da questa definizione sembra essere un uomo molto ricco invece lui stesso definiva la sua arte una necessità per non essere in bolletta. Un autodidatta, come altri di cui ho letto ed una persona ironica. In Italia sono pubblicati, oltre quelli che ho già letto altri due volumi di questa serie, che vorrò leggere. Spero l'editore porti tutti i volumi pubblicati in Italia perchè sto amando davvero molto.

[Nan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ludwig Bemelmans' journey from hotel bus boy to the author/illustrator of the acclaimed Madeline series (among others) is an interesting ride. This volume, edited by Quentin Blake but written by Laurie Britton Newell, is a good introduction to how he got from here to there. It's relatively short on copy, but richly illustrated to show the progression of Bemelmans' work. Actual rating: 3.5

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely compiled overview of Ludwig Bemelmans' life and career. It's fairly simplified, but engaging with a good balance of text and images and honestly quite effective as a quick read/easy reference. I look forward to checking out more books in this Illustrators series.

[Smg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun, learned some interesting things about him and about some of his lesser-know books

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Madeline series is iconic and I love the nostalgia that she invokes. This is a simplified biography of Madeline’s creator, and delves into his fairly traumatic childhood and the development of his career. The photos and drawings included were wonderful, and I especially enjoyed the illustrations that Bemelmans decorated his offices with. A must-read for fellow Madeline fans.