KEWPIES AND BEYOND The World Of Rose O'Neill

Before Mickey Mouse, there was the Kewpie doll, a much beloved elf-child created by illustrator Rose O’Neill (1875-1944). The Kewpie was introduced to the world in 1909 in a cartoon published in the Ladies’ Home Journal. The frolics and impish pursuits of the Kewpies soon became so popular that they moved off the page and into doll form, eventually finding their way onto objects as disparate as fine china, door knockers, chocolates, and hood ornaments. Their subsequent popularity made O’Neill a millionaire. Without formal art training, Rose O'Neill was not only hugely financially successful through her illustration work and the production of Kewpie dolls, but also through her exhibited drawings and sculpture in solo shows in Paris and New York. Kewpie made her a famous figure commercially, but few recognize her today as a serious artist and a political subversive who expressed sympathy for minorities, suffragettes, and victims of intolerance and who struggled with her own expression in a male-dominated field. Out Of Print. Condition: Very Fine/As New. In Shrink Wrap.