The Enduring Appeal of Mary Blair
Mary Blair, concept art for Cinderella, ca. 1950, © Disney
(Image Credit: Wikiart https://www.wikiart.org/en/mary-blair/cinderella-0)
Cinderella in her pumpkin coach. Peter Pan’s flight to Neverland. Alice falling down the rabbit hole. These images from Disney’s Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland have stayed with many of us throughout our lives, both because of the wonder of the stories they told and the innate beauty of their animation. These hand-drawn animated films, and others created in the 1940s and 50s, are among the most beautiful and artistically sophisticated ever produced by Walt Disney Studios. Much of this beauty can be traced back to one remarkable concept artist: Mary Blair.
One of few women artists to receive recognition within the company during the early days of Disney, Mary Blair created breathtaking concept paintings defined by their cheerful, bold colors and flat, stylized figures. Her art expressed a childlike innocence and wonder but was also shockingly modern and avant-garde for the period in which it was made, more so than the concept art of many of her peers at Walt Disney Studios. These works of art had a major impact on several of Disney’s animated films. According to animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in their book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, Mary Blair’s art “opened up our thinking and started a more imaginative approach to our own work.” [1] While her concept art was greatly admired by those privileged to see it, for several decades after her death in 1978, it was largely confined to the Disney Animation Research Library and to the personal collections of those who had known her.
Within the last decade, Mary Blair’s art has received newfound acclaim not only from devoted admirers of Disney animation but also from an increasingly prestigious array of collectors and museums. Until the last few years, her art was mainly exhibited by aficionados of Disney animation and of animation as a whole. For example, in 2009, her work was celebrated at the exhibition “The Colors of Mary Blair” at The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, which was organized in partnership with the respected Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli. [2] Her work was also displayed at a special exhibit “Magic, Color, Flair: The World of Mary Blair” in 2014 at the Walt Disney Family Museum. [3] In 2019, a selection of her art was shown at Chapman University’s Hilbert Museum of California Art for the exhibition “The Magic and Flair of Mary Blair.” [4] This exhibition is currently being revived at the Fresno Art Museum in California, where it will be on display until January 2024. [5]
Her work began to expand outside of the exclusive sphere of animation art in 2021 when art by Mary Blair was exhibited at the V&A in London for the exhibition “Alice: Curioser and Curioser”, a general homage to the story of Alice in Wonderland that featured illustrations from the original novel by Sir John Tenniel and artwork by Salvador Dalí. [6] Her work continued to reach an even broader audience in 2021 and 2022, being exhibited at both The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and The Wallace Collection in London as part of the exhibition “Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts.” Here, her work, as well as the work of other Disney artists, was displayed alongside masterpieces in French fine and decorative art of the eighteenth century, such as Sèvres porcelain and furniture by André-Charles Boulle. One of Blair’s concept paintings for Cinderella was even featured on the cover of the exhibition catalogue for “Inspiring Walt Disney”, implicitly highlighting her work to both scholars and visitors of the exhibition.
Mary Blair’s work has also leapt in price at auction in recent years. For instance, in 2014, an animation cel for Alice in Wonderland by Mary Blair sold for $78,000 at Heritage Auctions.[7] Her concept art, in particular, has steadily risen in price over the last few years. In 2019, one of her works of Disney concept art was sold by Heritage Auctions for $66,000, the highest price paid for one of her concept paintings at the time. [8] In 2021, that record was broken when another of her concept art paintings was auctioned for $72,000. [9] The highest price paid for one of her works rose again significantly in June of this year, with one of her concept paintings for Cinderella being sold for $90,000 at the Heritage Auctions sale “Celebrating 100 Years of Disney: 1923-2023”. [10] Additionally, of the top ten lots sold at this auction, six were by Mary Blair. [11] Collectively, these developments indicate that Blair’s work is commanding a new respect and interest like never before.
The increased popularity of Mary Blair’s works heralds a new prestige associated not only with her art, but with animation art as a whole. Today, animation art, and particularly concept art, appear to be moving toward being accepted as a form of fine art to be celebrated alongside established, canonical works. Through placing works of Disney concept art alongside iconic historic paintings, such as Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Swing, the exhibition “Inspiring Walt Disney” seems to support this trend. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in particular, has elevated this mindset. Last year, for instance, the article “Plastic, Paint, and Movie Magic: A Close Look at Disney Animation Cels” was published on the museum’s website. [12] In this article, conservator Rachel Mustalish explains the complicated animation process in detail and urges the reader to hold this process in higher esteem on both an artistic and technical level.
This new respect for animation art as a whole has been demonstrated in the art market as well. This phenomenon was reported on for the Wall Street Journal in 2016 by arts journalist Daniel Grant, who observed that animation art was experiencing a dramatic increase in interest at auction. [13] At the time, Mr. Grant reported that works made for Disney’s The Little Mermaid were selling at a new high of $2,000. [14] Since then, Heritage Auctions’ June 2023 sale “Celebrating 100 Years of Disney: 1923-2023” has continued the trend, earning a total of $4,874,435 as the highest-grossing animation sale of all time. [15] For example, a work of Sleeping Beauty concept art by artist Eyvind Earle was sold at this auction for $66,000. [16] Also, sketches and storyboard art created for Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too by Ted Berman were auctioned at the sale for the considerable sum of $38,400. [17] These sales figures indicate that the increased popularity of Mary Blair’s work seems to be part of a larger shift in attitudes towards animation art.
But what is it that draws us to Mary Blair, in particular? Why is it that among the many noteworthy concept artists for Walt Disney Studios, Mary Blair’s art continues to shine so brightly to curators and collectors? A major factor in her popularity seems to be a longing for the artistry of the past. In the world of the twenty-first century, in which computer animation predominates, hand-drawn animation feels like a distant memory. It is only natural that the unique artistic excellence it represents is appreciated by collectors now more than ever. Owning a work of concept art by Mary Blair allows one to step into the past, into a colorful, gentle, and nostalgic world that feels familiar because it evokes the magic of the early Disney animated features. In many ways, the art of Mary Blair, who herself was trained at the prestigious Chouinard Art Institute, epitomizes the artistic sophistication of these early features. Blair always considered herself a fine artist above all else, [18] and her life and work reflect this standard to which she held herself. Today, Mary Blair’s art seems to be valued more than the art of any other animation concept artist because it represents both nostalgia and excellence.
The art market of the twenty-first century has been subject to many changes, with new developments such as NFTs leaving an indelible mark on the scene. Out of all of these changes, the shift in the attitudes of collectors and museums toward animation art as a whole has been one of the most noteworthy. The sudden burst in popularity of animation art since 2016 is a particularly key development for the future because it indicates a general reevaluation of the boundaries traditionally placed on how animation art is conceived, which will certainly continue to cause ripples throughout the art world. But the central role of Mary Blair in the triumph of animation art should serve as no surprise. Great art constantly challenges preconceived labels applied to it, for each coming generation to interpret in its own way. The art of Mary Blair is doing just that. It will be exciting to see in what ways her art continues to grow in prestige and value in the future.
Footnotes:
[1] Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (New York: Disney Editions, 1981), p. 520.
[2] https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/exhibitions/98/.
[3] https://www.antiquetrader.com/art/mary-blair-disney-artist; https://www.waltdisney.org/store/special-exhibitions/magic-color-flair-world-mary-blair-exhibition-catalog.
[4] https://www.antiquetrader.com/art/mary-blair-disney-artist.
[5] https://www.fresnoartmuseum.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/.
[6] https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/alice-in-wonderland-victoria-and-albert-b1850026.html.
[7] https://fineart.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news/june-22-26-event-celebrating-a-century-of-disney-tops-record-setting-4.8-million-to-become-most-successful-animation-art-auction-ever.s?releaseId=4760.
[8] https://www.antiquetrader.com/art/mary-blair-disney-artist.
[9] https://fineart.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news/june-22-26-event-celebrating-a-century-of-disney-tops-record-setting-4.8-million-to-become-most-successful-animation-art-auction-ever.s?releaseId=4760.
[10] https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/mary-blairs-cinderella-concept-paintings-lead-heritage-disney-auction; https://fineart.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news/june-22-26-event-celebrating-a-century-of-disney-tops-record-setting-4.8-million-to-become-most-successful-animation-art-auction-ever.s?releaseId=4760.
[11] https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/mary-blairs-cinderella-concept-paintings-lead-heritage-disney-auction; https://fineart.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news/june-22-26-event-celebrating-a-century-of-disney-tops-record-setting-4.8-million-to-become-most-successful-animation-art-auction-ever.s?releaseId=4760.
[12] https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/conservation-and-scientific-research/paper-conservation/disney-cels.
[13] https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-luck-of-the-draw-1481512201.
[14] Ibid.
[15] https://fineart.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news/june-22-26-event-celebrating-a-century-of-disney-tops-record-setting-4.8-million-to-become-most-successful-animation-art-auction-ever.s?releaseId=4760.
[16] https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/mary-blairs-cinderella-concept-paintings-lead-heritage-disney-auction; https://fineart.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news/june-22-26-event-celebrating-a-century-of-disney-tops-record-setting-4.8-million-to-become-most-successful-animation-art-auction-ever.s?releaseId=4760.
[17] https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/mary-blairs-cinderella-concept-paintings-lead-heritage-disney-auction; https://fineart.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news/june-22-26-event-celebrating-a-century-of-disney-tops-record-setting-4.8-million-to-become-most-successful-animation-art-auction-ever.s?releaseId=4760.
[18] https://www.fresnoartmuseum.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/.
About the Author:
Caroline Nicholson recently received her Masters degree with Distinction in Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors from The University of Buckingham in partnership with The Wallace Collection, where she completed her dissertation on the Nancy School of Art Nouveau. She also holds an Honours Degree, First Class in Art History from The University of St Andrews. She has also published articles for The Pre-Raphaelite Society Review and Calliope Arts Journal.
Caroline can be reached via her LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-nicholson-ab16121aa/