The Journal of Antiques & Collectibles - Flights into Fantasy: The Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection of Children's Illustration at the Brandywine River Museum

Flights into Fantasy: The Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection of Children's Illustration at the Brandywine River Museum

John Anster Fitzgerald (1819-1906), Rabbit Among the Fairies (mid-19th century), watercolor and gouache on paper, collection of Kendra and Allan Daniel.

Kendra and Allan Daniel began their collection of children's illustration in the mid 1980s. In their words, the focus of the collection " . . . is on the universe of the imagination: a place where all things are possible. It is not just about children. It is about childhood, the state of being . . . where the mind wanders freely into a world of wonder."

This fall, on public view for the first time, the Brandywine River Museum exhibits more than 100 images of fantasy by some of the world's most renowned illustrators. "Flights into Fantasy: The Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection of Children's Illustration" presents delightful images and wonderful works that excite the imagination. Images of fairies and childhood are featured here in drawings, decorative designs and cartoons. Many works are by illustrators famous for their innovative styles and the memorable characters they delineated.

Their selections have always been based on connoisseurship. Initially, their interest was in American illustrators, but soon they discovered the work of eminent British illustrators and artists from other countries. The first work acquired for the collection was an illustration by Harold Gaze, a New Zealand artist who immigrated to the United States in the 1920s.

Alice Paul Preston, I am an American, illustration for Sara Cone Bryant, I am an American, 1919, watercolor and gouache on paper.

His fascinating, surreal approach prompted the Daniels' search for works of fantasy by American artists. Likewise, the strange, romantic work of nineteenth century English artist John Anster Fitzgerald - as well as other artists from the brief era of fairy and fantasy painting in Victorian England - became a focus and important historical tie to children's illustration.

In the collection, children are frequently recurring subjects, and the psychological state of childhood where the mind wanders freely into a world of wonder is a prevailing theme. Kendra Daniel comments, "As a collector, it is spiritually rewarding to cultivate the child in oneself…to be open to new ways of seeing art…that reflect the condition of childhood."

The Daniels' collection focuses on works from the Golden Age of Illustration, a period between the 1880s and 1920s that produced unprecedented excellence in book and magazine illustration. Works by numerous British illustrators are on view in the exhibition, including Arthur Rackham's delicate pen illustration for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and William Heath Robinson's imaginative illustration for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Kate Greenaway (1846-1901), To Baby (1885), watercolor and ink on paper, illustration for Kate Greenaway, Marigold Garden: Pictures and Rhymes (London and New York: G. Routledge and Sons, 1885), collection of Kendra and Allan Daniel.

American illustration during the Golden Age was led by Howard Pyle. His legacy is found in the careers of his students and their followers. The Daniel collection reveals a special interest in women who studied with Pyle. These artists include Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Ethel Franklin Betts, Gertrude Kay, and Emilie Benson Knipe. The collection also contains work by other women who excelled in works of fantasy, some of whom were noted for cartoons and satire.

Kate Greenaway, Beatrix Potter, and Jessie Willcox Smith were among the most important and influential women illustrators of their day. Each established a distinct style. Greenaway was famous for delicate drawings and nostalgic images of children in early-nineteenth century dress. Potter was an amateur naturalist, whose many stories and illustrations of anthropomorphized rabbits, hedgehogs, and mice promoted awareness of and sympathy for animals. Smith's illustrations show keen understanding of childhood joys and sorrows in images that are tender without being sentimental. The emphasis on decoration and flattened design in Smith's work offers a dimension and interest beyond juvenile subjects.

Celebrated Danish-born artist Kay Nielsen, a favorite of the Daniels, has a prominent place in the exhibition. A former staff artist for Disney, Nielsen created imaginative drawings for the 1940 Disney classic Fantasia. Nielsen's range and captivating style are well demonstrated in the eight works appearing in this exhibition, including several for his famous and critically acclaimed book, East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

Kay Nielsen (1886-1957), This Good Fairy Placed her own Baby in the Cradle of Roses and Gave Command to the Zephyrs to Carry Him to the Tower (1912), ink and watercolor on paper, illustration for "Felicia," in Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, In Powder and Crinoline, Old Fairy Tales (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1913), collection of Kendra and Allan Daniel.

Some illustrators began their careers creating social and political satire. Their quick humor and distinctive, short-hand artistry aided them in creating engaging characters for children's literature. Examples of artists who worked in a cartoon style can be seen in works by Americans including Harrison Cady's comic illustrations for Thornton Burgess' Peter Rabbit, John Neill's energetic drawings for L. Frank Baum's Oz books and Peter Newell's quirky drawings for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Works by other Americans include Ludwig Bemelmans' illustrations for the Madeline books.

Works of fantasy involve fairies or otherworldly beings, as well as animals. Satire and fantasy frequently have been expressed through animals or animal-like creatures transformed into talking, walking characters. They provide entertainment, parody human situations, and offer subtle instruction on social behavior. This can be seen in works such as Ernest H. Shepard's figure drawings of A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, Jean de Brunhoff's beloved elephant, Babar, and William Pène du Bois' Otto books of the 1930s.

Illustrations from the Brandywine River Museum's permanent collection by such important artists as Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth and Frank Schoonover will be on view in other galleries at the museum to complement the special exhibition.

The exhibition will be on view at the Brandywine River Museum through November 18, 2007. Flights into Fantasy will travel to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, where it will be on view July 1, 2008 through October 26, 2008.

Located on US Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, the Brandywine River Museum is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Christmas Day. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for seniors ages 65 and over, students with I.D., and children; and free for children under six and Brandywine Conservancy members. For more information, call (610) 388-2700 or visit the museum's website at www.brandywinemuseum.org.

Journal Home Page Contents Page Brimfield FleaMarkets.Com Brimfield Country Store Subscribe