DOI issue:
No. 256 (August 1914)
DOI article:Reddie, Arthur: Miss Willebeek Le Mair's illustrations for children's books
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21210#0244
Miss 1/Villebeek Le Mairs Illustrations
young girl, lives with her parents in a delightful
house in one of the large cities of Holland, sur-
rounded in her home with beautiful things ancient
and modern, and dwelling in an atmosphere which
breathes extreme culture and refinement. Her
childhood's days were passed in a well-appointed
nursery and amid surroundings which form the
motifs for the interiors and the scenes depicted in
her drawings. Thus she has enjoyed exceptional
advantages, and while, of course, for this she must
be congratulated rather than praised, what one can
commend most highly is the admirable way in
which she has availed herself of the artistic environ-
ment and of the opportunities she has enjoyed, so
as to be able to produce drawings so perfect and so
attractive.
Apart from her art Miss Le Mair is versatile in
other directions: she is a great sportswoman, a
linguist, is very gifted musically and devoted to
dancing, which she has studied under M. Jaques-
Dalcroze, and at her home she has a school of a
dozen or so little children whom she teaches
dancing, while in working and playing with them
no doubt she finds material for the closely observed
and charmingly drawn little figures so full of
movement and grace which we find in her decora-
tive illustrations.
Intense and unflagging study would seem to be
the key-note of her art; in all her drawings, not
merely the children, but the graceful decor in which
she places them so harmoniously, the original little
dresses, their dolls, their toys, and all the details of
the composition are true to life—are all, if one may
so express it, accurate portraits. For instance, as
a preparation for one illustration to an old nursery
rhyme Miss Le Mair had a number of mice and
studied them with almost the indefatigability of a
Henri Fabre, making countless drawings and
sketches of them before executing the finished
drawings which represented the essence and sum
total of all this laborious and close observation.
In another, an illustration for " Oranges and
Lemons," the background contains what are really
careful portraits of the various church steeples in
London of which the old rhyme tells, and the same
care is applied to all, even the smallest, details of
her works.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Strecker we are
happy in being able to reproduce several of Miss
Le Mair's designs, which show her admirable
'THE MULBERRY BUSH" (WATER-COLOUR) BY HENRIETTE WILLEBEEK LE MAIR
( Copyright A ngener Ltd.)
224
young girl, lives with her parents in a delightful
house in one of the large cities of Holland, sur-
rounded in her home with beautiful things ancient
and modern, and dwelling in an atmosphere which
breathes extreme culture and refinement. Her
childhood's days were passed in a well-appointed
nursery and amid surroundings which form the
motifs for the interiors and the scenes depicted in
her drawings. Thus she has enjoyed exceptional
advantages, and while, of course, for this she must
be congratulated rather than praised, what one can
commend most highly is the admirable way in
which she has availed herself of the artistic environ-
ment and of the opportunities she has enjoyed, so
as to be able to produce drawings so perfect and so
attractive.
Apart from her art Miss Le Mair is versatile in
other directions: she is a great sportswoman, a
linguist, is very gifted musically and devoted to
dancing, which she has studied under M. Jaques-
Dalcroze, and at her home she has a school of a
dozen or so little children whom she teaches
dancing, while in working and playing with them
no doubt she finds material for the closely observed
and charmingly drawn little figures so full of
movement and grace which we find in her decora-
tive illustrations.
Intense and unflagging study would seem to be
the key-note of her art; in all her drawings, not
merely the children, but the graceful decor in which
she places them so harmoniously, the original little
dresses, their dolls, their toys, and all the details of
the composition are true to life—are all, if one may
so express it, accurate portraits. For instance, as
a preparation for one illustration to an old nursery
rhyme Miss Le Mair had a number of mice and
studied them with almost the indefatigability of a
Henri Fabre, making countless drawings and
sketches of them before executing the finished
drawings which represented the essence and sum
total of all this laborious and close observation.
In another, an illustration for " Oranges and
Lemons," the background contains what are really
careful portraits of the various church steeples in
London of which the old rhyme tells, and the same
care is applied to all, even the smallest, details of
her works.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Strecker we are
happy in being able to reproduce several of Miss
Le Mair's designs, which show her admirable
'THE MULBERRY BUSH" (WATER-COLOUR) BY HENRIETTE WILLEBEEK LE MAIR
( Copyright A ngener Ltd.)
224