Leslie Hindman Auctioneers to Sell Rare Disney Cels and Babar Illustrations
On Tuesday, November 15, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers will auction an impressive collection of original illustration art belonging to Ralph Esmerian, including early Disney animation cels from the 1930’s and 1940’s and original story-board watercolors from the beloved French children’s series, Babar the Elephant. The collection is expected to bring over $50,000 at the sale next Tuesday.
In the Golden Age of Animation, from 1928 to 1942, Walt Disney studios produced five of the most spectacular feature-length animated films of all time: Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi. Their influence remains today, as the studio continues to re-release them from “The Vault” for a new generation. Each scene was hand-crafted carefully with the combination of original production cels and original production watercolor backgrounds. Together, these “key master set-ups,” as they are termed, from Disney’s early animated features are exceedingly rare.
Ralph Esmerian’s collection contained a number of these key master set-ups, including two from Snow White and Seven Dwarfs and four from Pinocchio. Scenes include Snow White kissing Dopey on the forehead, Dopey placing diamonds in his eyes, Gepetto creating Pinocchio, Pinocchio crawling across the floor of Gepetto’s workshop, Gepetto discovering Pinocchio’s donkey ears, and Pinocchio dancing for the evil puppet-master, Stromboli. “We believe this to be one of the most significant collections of original Disney animation art to have ever been offered at auction in recent years,” says Mary Williams, Director of Fine Books and Manuscripts at Leslie Hindman, “and we expect it to do extremely well.”
The collection also contains original story-board watercolor drawings from the popular children’s book series Babar the Elephant, by Jean de Brunhoff and, later, his son Laurent de Brunhoff, each estimated to sell between $4,000-6,000. Babar the Elephant, dreamed up from the bedtime stories of Cecil de Brunhoff, is one of the most iconic, and, at times, controversial, children’s book characters of all time, with over 30,000 publications in 17 languages and an animated television series that broadcasts in over 150 countries. Esmerian’s collection includes original story-board illustrations by Jean de Brunhoff from Le Voyage de Babar (1932) and by Laurent de Brunhoff from Babar Comes to America(1965). Also included is an original watercolor of Babar and his family signed by Laurent de Brunhoff with a matching signed lithograph and a hand-painted lithograph signed by Jean de Brunhoff from Le Roi de Babar.
Public previews for the sale will be held Saturday, November 12, 10am – 3pm, Sunday, November 13, 12pm – 5pm, and Monday, November 14, 10am – 5pm. A fully illustrated catalogue is available at http://www.lesliehindman.com/. For questions regarding the upcoming auction, please contact Mary Williams at 312.334.4236 or [email protected].