Sold at Auction: Ludwig Bemelmans

(b 1898; d 1962) Born in Austria, Ludwig Bemelmans moved to the United States in 1914 and enlisted in the army during the First World War. After the War, he worked in the hotel business before turning to a career as an author, illustrator and artist. He wrote and illustrated his best known work, the children’s book Madeline, in 1939, as well as fourteen other books over his career. Bemelmans considered himself an artist and illustrator first and his work includes many cover illustrations for the New Yorker, the design of a Broadway set, and famous murals in New York’s Carlyle Hotel. He became a serious painter towards the end of his life and a few of his works are on display in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Museé National d'Art of Paris.