“She Threw Her Arms Around the Neck of Bonne-Biche”
I’m happy to share another new-to-me artist. This is the first of hopefully many that I will be able to cover…
This wonderful illustration is by the American artist, Virginia Frances Sterrett. It is a color plate of a watercolor and ink on paper piece. It was created for a 1920 publication of Old French Fairy Tales by Sophie Rostopchine, the Comtesse De Ségur.
At 19 years old, Sterrett was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Her health declined and she went to live at a sanitarium where she was essentially bedridden. A friend of Sterrett’s brought her illustrations to the Chicago Book Fair, which landed Virginia her first book commission. The Penn Publishing Company from Philadelphia commissioned Sterrett to create illustrations for their publication of Old French Fairy Tales.
Old French Fairy Tales is a collection of five longer length stories written by Sophie Rostopchine, who interestingly didn’t begin writing until the age of 58. Penn allowed Sterrett to illustrate whatever passages she chose, giving her immense artistic freedom. She made the illustrations from her bed in the sanitarium and the money helped sustain her family. The book was a large format illustrated book with simple stories meant as gifts for children and was very well-received.
This illustration was created for the story, “The Story of Blondine, Bonne-Biche, and Beau-Minon”. The story tells the tale of the beautiful Princess Blondine, a 7-year-old child, whose jealous stepmother sends her out to the enchanted Forest of Lilacs where she is lost. A white cat, whom Blondine names Beau-Minon, leads her to food and out of the forest to an enchanted castle where she meets Bonne-Biche, a white hind, who takes her in. After a long and magical sleep of 7 years, Blondine wakes up at 14 years old with much more knowledge.
Sterrett’s illustration appears in the chapter, “Blondine’s Second Awakening”, between pages 34 and 35 of the original publication. It is accompanied with the text, “She Threw Her Arms Around the Neck of Bonne-Biche”. Grateful for the care and attentiveness that Bonne-Biche and Beau Minon show her over the 7 years that she slept, Blondine gives Bonne-Biche a hug in thankfulness, which Sterrett beautifully illustrates.
Blondine is lured away from her new home by a talking parrot, a magician and enemy of Bonne-Biche. Unknowingly, Blondine joins the parrot to find a rose, and leads to the destruction of Bonne-Biche, Beau-Minon, and their magical castle. Distraught and alone, Blondine survives in the woods living off the milk of a cow. After six months, a tortoise arrives and takes her on her back to see her friends, who were under a spell that was finally broken. Bonne-Biche is a magical fairy, Bienveillante, and Beau-Minon is her son, Prince Parfait. They take her back to her father’s castle. Blondine marries Beau-Minon, her father marries the fairy Bienveillante, and everyone lives happily ever after.
For more on Virginia Frances Sterrett, please visit her short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
