The little French elephant in the jaunty green suit who wears a yellow crown, the much beloved Babar, has finally arrived in America. Cherished by generations of children and adults, Babar, and how he came to be, is now the subject of an exhibition at the Morgan Library titled “Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors.”
The adventures of the brave and noble little elephant have captivated readers who love the stories of the resourceful Babar, the Little Old Lady, Celeste and the rascally Cousin Arthur.
The orphaned baby elephant, who escaped murderous hunters in the jungle and made his way to Paris, first appeared in print in 1931 in L’Histoire de Babar, Le Petit Eléphant (The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant). He originated in a story that Cécile de Brunhoff told her young sons, Laurent and Mathieu (son Thierry was not born until 1934) one evening in 1930. So entranced with the little elephant were the two boys that their artist father, Jean de Brunhoff, expanded the story, illustrated and published it. Babar’s adventures in Paris, and his subsequent career in the great forest and as king of the elephants in Celesteville, are the stuff of a treasured series.
The de Brunhoff boys grew up in a household where the dapper little elephant was very much a presence. As children, however, their favorite character was Zephir. Babar as a character was wise and patient; paternal, full of fun and funny. Above all, he was well-mannered. His adventures are meant to amuse, and they do.
One smiles when Babar drives back to the great forest with his cousins, Arthur and Celeste, in his stylish car; there was no room in the car for the elephant mothers, so they ran behind it while they lifted their trunks to avoid inhaling its dust. The peculiar blend of fantasy and the familiar is irresistible. When the two cousins are thought to be missing, a passing marabou spots them and reports their whereabouts to the concerned elephants at home, alleviating their worries. In another escapade, when the elephants are threatened by the fearsome rhinoceroses, Babar directs his army to paint the back ends of the elephants with frightening visages, with huge eyes and red noses. It works; the rhinoceroses decamp.
The Babar stories are serene; the king of the elephants takes excellent care of his family and his subjects; in addition, he and his family travel widely and they experience a range of other adventures. He is presented as a strong paternal force. However high the obstacles in life, they are always overcome and all ends happily.
The Story of Babar was translated into English in 1933. The response to the book was so strong that de Brunhoff completed six more Babar stories before his early death in 1937 at 37. The last two, Babar and His Children and Babar and Father Christmas , appeared in 1936 in black and white in England in The Daily Sketch . They were published posthumously in book form, with coloring by Jean’s brother, publisher Michel de Brunhoff, and the then 12-year-old Laurent de Brunhoff.
The popularity of the little elephant led to a commission to decorate the children’s dining room of the transatlantic liner Normandie with painted wood images of Babar.
Laurent de Brunhoff, in the introduction to Babar’s Anniversary Album , writes that the Babar stories were inspired by his own family. He writes that his father was so delighted by his new creation that he began his second Babar book before the first was even published.
In the same introduction, Laurent de Brunhoff explained something that puzzled many readers. The Old Lady was always drawn as a slim, youthful character; the reason for this, he said, was that she was modeled after his own mother, Cécile.
Nine years after his father’s death, the eldest son, 21-year-old Laurent, continued his father’s legacy with the 1946 publication of Babar et ce Coquin d’Arthur ( Babar and That Rascal Arthur ). Laurent has carried on the publication of Babar books, taking the little elephant and scores of readers on some great adventures. Books total 37 today; the latest, Babar’s USA , detailing Babar’s trip across the United States, has been released to coincide with the exhibit.
“Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors” is an illumination of the creative process of two different artists, father and son, employing diametrically opposed techniques, which resulted in a seamless continuity of the adventures of Babar.
All the drafts and final watercolors of each artist’s first book, Jean de Brunhoff’s The Story of Babar , and Laurent de Brunhoff’s Babar and That Rascal Arthur , are on view in side-by-side fashion. This method of display facilitates an easy comparison of each artist’s technique and enables the visitor to compare them. Moreover, it reveals how each artist’s Babar came into being.
Other clues to the artist’s intentions are also on view. Early drafts indicate that Jean de Brunhoff opened his story with the death of Babar’s mother; in the final publication, the story begins with Babar’s mother rocking him in a hammock. The elephant had no name †he was called “Baby Elephant.”
An image of Babar, Celeste and Arthur being carried in triumph was not included in the published version of Babar. The accompanying text reveals that Jean de Brunhoff was already planning a sequel, as he notes, “In another book we will describe their continuing adventures.”
Celeste did not appear in any early drafts; instead, Babar had two boy cousins and they were all crowned king. In the final version, Babar and Celeste were crowned at their wedding.
Each artist was trained academically, although Laurent may have had an edge from watching his father work in his studio. Laurent de Brunhoff has had the added advantage of many extra years in which he has taken Babar on even greater exploits and introduced new characters, among them the Wully Wully.
Jean de Brunhoff approached his work by making initial pencil sketches and later working in the spare line and high watercolor. His text was printed in cursive.
Laurent de Brunhoff’s images were almost indistinguishable from those of his father, but he arrived at them in a very different way. An abstract painter, he began with exuberant color and added line later in the process. While the father created pictures and text concurrently, the son added text after he had completed the images. His text, too, was cursive.
In an email to Christine Nelson, the Drue Heinz curator of literary and historical manuscripts at the Morgan Library, Laurent de Brunhoff explained that Hachette, the French publisher of Babar books, has always printed the books in cursive script. The American publisher, Random House until the 1990s, used cursive script for large size editions but not for smaller size books. The current publisher, Abrams, does not use cursive type.
The Babar stories draw much from the period and environment in which they were written. Jean de Brunhoff came from a family of publishers of French fashion magazines, including Vogue Paris and Le Jardin des Modes ; he drew from that background. Those connections also gave him an edge in finding his way to publishing his own work.
The father and son artists who drew Babar exhibited a more than passing acquaintance with the latest fashion. Although in early drafts Babar was simply a little gray elephant, he was ultimately outfitted in “a suit of a becoming shade of green,” a shirt with a collar and tie and finally, “a handsome derby hat and also shoes with spats.” The detail of haberdashery is striking.
Nelson, who organized the exhibit, described recently the cover of a 1930 issue of the French fashion magazine Le Jardin des Modes on which a model wore a green suit of a color similar to that of Babar’s suit with a black cloche, not dissimilar to Babar’s derby.
Not only was Babar an elephant of fashion, he was an urbane sophisticate who enjoyed the finer things in life, from a Paris drawing room to ocean cruises, airplane rides and ski trips.
“Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors” comprises some 175 manuscript materials and drawings, including most of the surviving working drafts of Jean de Brunhoff’s first Babar story, the 1931 The Story of Babar , and of Laurent de Brunhoff’s first Babar story, the 1946 Babar and That Rascal Arthur . The exhibit is drawn from the Morgan Library’s collection of Babar material, acquired in 2004 from the de Brunhoff family. The collection was a partial gift of the sons of Jean de Brunhoff †Laurent, Mathieu and Thierry †and a partial purchase.
Also on view is Jean de Brunhoff’s maquette for The Story of Babar , which he made during the composition process. While it cannot be displayed in its entirety because of its format, a digital facsimile of the entire work is on view, allowing visitors to compare the maquette with the published edition of The Story of Babar . The comparison reveals the refinement of the story by the artist and the changes he made as it developed, changes both subtle and substantive.
“Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors” is accompanied by an illustrated catalog by Nelson, with an essay by New Yorker author Adam Gopnik.
“Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors” remains on view through January 4 at the Morgan Library and Museum, 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street. For information, 212-685-0008 or www.themorgan.org .
