Babar is Alive and Well in New York, at the Morgan Library and Museum that is!

In our turbulent times, the slow going elephant is a reassuring presence. Babar is in New York, not for one of his family outings with Celeste and their children but as the star of Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors an exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum.

Unbeknown to me "in 2004 the Morgan acquired the working drafts and printer-ready watercolors for Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant (1931), the first book by Jean de Brunhoff (1899–1937), and Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur (1946), the first book by Laurent de Brunhoff (b. 1925). Together these two collections—shown virtually in their entirety for the first time—provide an extraordinary record of the working methods of the two men, both painters turned storytellers..."