In the early 1930s, Bemelmans met
May Massee, the children's book editor at
Viking Press, who became a sort of partner. He published the first
Madeline book in 1939; after being rejected by Viking, it was published by
Simon & Schuster. The book was a great success. Bemelmans did not write a second Madeline book until 1953, when he published ''Madeline's Rescue''. Four more books in the series were subsequently published while he was alive, and one more was published posthumously in 1999. Up until the early 1950s, the artistic media Bemelmans worked in were pen and ink, watercolor, and
gouache. As he describes in his autobiographical
My Life in Art, Bemelmans had avoided
oil painting because it did not permit him to produce artistic pieces quickly. However, at this point in his life, Bemelmans wanted to master the richness of oil painting. To this end, he set out to buy a property in Paris that would serve as a serious, full-blown art studio. In 1953, Bemelmans fell in love with a small
bistro in Paris, in the
Île de la Cité, and bought it, intending to convert it into a studio. He painted
murals therein, but the project was a disaster owing to French bureaucracy, and after two years of frustration and disappointment, Bemelmans unloaded it by selling it to
Michel Valette, who converted it into a notable
cabaret. Bemelmans also wrote a number of adult books, including travel, humorous works, and novels, as well as movie scripts including
Yolanda and the Thief. While spending time in
Hollywood, he became a close friend of interior decorator
Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl. He is the namesake of
Bemelmans Bar at the
Carlyle Hotel in New York City, which features his mural,
Central Park, on the wall. It is his only artwork on display to the public. He painted the children's dining room on
Aristotle Onassis's yacht
Christina (now the
Christina O), for
Christina Onassis, the young daughter of the magnate. A collection of Bemelmans' short writings was published in 2004 as
When you lunch with the Emperor mainly extracted from previous works which included
My War with the United States (1937),
Life Class (1938),
Small Beer (1939),
Hotel Splendide (1941),
I Love You, I Love You, I Love You (1942), and "Bemelman's Italian Holiday" (1961) a collection of travel essays that originally appeared in the magazine,
Holiday, to which Bemelmans had been a consistent contributor.
Madeline series Each Madeline story begins: "In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines... the smallest one was Madeline." The girls are cared for by Miss Clavel. Other characters include Pepito, son of the Spanish ambassador, who lives next door; Lord Cucuface, owner of the house; and Genevieve, a dog who rescues Madeline from
drowning in the second book. Bemelmans published six Madeline stories in his lifetime, five as picture books and one in a magazine. A seventh was discovered after his death and published posthumously: •
Madeline, 1939: in which Madeline must have her
appendix removed. • ''
Madeline's Rescue'', 1953: in which Madeline is rescued from drowning by a dog (later named Genevieve). Winner of the
Caldecott Medal for U.S.
picture book illustration. •
Madeline and the Bad Hat, 1956: in which the "bad hat" is Pepito, the Spanish ambassador's son, whose cruel antics outrage Madeline. •
Madeline and the Gypsies, 1959: in which Madeline and Pepito have an adventure at a circus. •
Madeline in London, 1961: in which Pepito moves to London, and Madeline and the girls go to visit him. • ''
Madeline's Christmas, 1985: in which everyone in the house catches cold, except Madeline. (First published in McCall's'' in 1956). •
Madeline in America and Other Holiday Tales, 1999: in which Madeline inherits a fortune from her American great-grandfather. The book also reveals Madeline's full name, Madeline Fogg.
Adaptations • The first book,
Madeline, was adapted as an
Academy Award-nominated 1952
short animated cartoon directed by Robert Cannon for
UPA and released by
Columbia Pictures, also titled
Madeline. • Between 1988 and 2002, an animated
Madeline series was made for television (plus one direct-to-video film
Madeline: Lost in Paris), with the narration in rhyming style read by
Christopher Plummer. • A
live-action Madeline film based on several of the books appeared in 1998, directed by
Daisy von Scherler Mayer and starring
Hatty Jones as Madeline,
Frances McDormand as Miss Clavel, and
Nigel Hawthorne as Lord Covington. • Bemelmans's first novel,
Madeline, was briefly satirized on a February 2020 episode of
Saturday Night Live by comedian and drag performer
Ru Paul. ==
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep==