Curious George Saves The Day
General admission to the Chrysler is always free. Special exhibitions such as this one are free to Museum Members and children under 12; $5 for all others. Group tour discounts are available (email your request here.)
Right, top: H. A. Rey, final illustration for “This is George. He lived in Africa,” published in The Original Curious George (1998), France, 1939–40, watercolor, charcoal, and color pencil on paper. H. A.& Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Curious George, and related characters, created by Margret and H. A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. © 2011 by HMH
Right, bottom: Margret and H. A. Rey, United States, late 1940s. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.
Curious George Saves the Day: the Art of Margret and H. A. Rey is organized by The Jewish Museum, New York, and is supported through a bequest from the Estate of Lore Ross.
Local presentation is made possible by the generous support of an anonymous friend of the Museum, the Simon Family Jewish Community Center and the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding at Old Dominion University. Additional support comes from The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center in Portsmouth, Va., and WHRO Public Media.
The Art of Margret
and H. A. Rey
(April 27 - Sept. 18, 2011)
Curious George, the impish monkey protagonist of many adventures, may never have seen the light of day were it not for the determination and courage of his creators: illustrator H. A. Rey (1898–1977) and his wife, author and artist Margret Rey (1906–1996).
They were both born in Hamburg, Germany, to Jewish families and lived together in Paris from 1936 to 1940. Hours before the Nazis marched into the city in June 1940, the Reys fled on bicycles, carrying drawings for their children’s stories, including one about a mischievous monkey, then named Fifi.
Not only did they save their animal characters, but the Reys themselves were saved by their illustrations when authorities found them in their belongings. This may explain why saving the day after a narrow escape became the premise of most of their Curious George stories.
After their fateful escape from Paris and a four-month journey across France, Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, the couple settled in New York in the fall of 1940. In all, the Reys authored and illustrated more than 30 books, most of them for children, with seven of them starring Curious George.
Seventy years after the arrival of Curious George in America, the monkey’s antics have been translated into over a dozen languages to the delight of readers, young and old, around the world.