January 11-12, 2025 at Theriault's Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland.
Rosalie Whyel spent her collecting years in the advocacy of the doll as an art form, indeed, even naming her justly celebrated museum in Bellevue, Washington as The Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art. It was not simply a museum of dolls, but, boldly, a Museum of Doll Art. Through her leadership, many collectors came to realize that the sculpture and design of a doll was an art form as surely as more traditionally named objects such as bronze sculptures or portrait paintings. For this, it is not possible to praise her enough.
Yet, there is more. Because Rosalie Whyel also saw the doll as history. A study of the dolls in her museum collection underscores this over and over again. The personal story of each doll, why it was created, what was its inspiration, who owned it and cared for it, its chronological connection with other similar dolls, its uniqueness and why, was an important element in each doll’s presentation. The history of each doll was as important to her as the physical object itself. In this catalog, Part Two of Rosalie, A Life of Dolls, these dual purposes of the doll as art and the doll as history is explored, continuing the vision as presented in Part One of the collection.
The collection ranges from extremely rare French bébés and poupées, to the early wooden dolls of England and Europe, to the esoteric, to the dolls of mystery background whose history is yet to be uncovered. The art work of German dolls of the early 1900s continues to be explored and the presentation of her dolls leads the collector through the myriad historical phases of the 20th century, including the studio art dolls of children created by Lilli Baitz to the development of the celebrity doll industry. The history of dolls as seen through the vision of this zealous and curious collector was presented first at the Museum she built and nurtured and, now, fittingly at her request is returned to hands of other knowing and caring collectors. 10" x 10". 252 pages. Hardbound. $139.
