(Walt Disney Studios, 1951) Amazing original concept painting by Mary Blair for Alice in Wonderland, portraying Alice as she stumbles across the Caterpillar smoking his hookah upon a large polka dot mushroom. The scene is rendered in beautifully strange detail, with Alice, in an alarmed back-facing pose, depicted boldly against the predominantly lush green backdrop. The Caterpillar, surrounded by pale swirling smoke, looms high over Alice on his bright purple mushroom, with the plants and gloomy tree-line suggesting a foggy nighttime encounter. Accomplished in tempera on 10.5 x 9 artist's board. In fine condition, with tack holes to corners and a few small edge tears.
Blair was a concept artist for Disney during the 1940s and early 1950s, working on designs for such films as Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Alice in Wonderland. She also created designs for several Disney attractions (including It's a Small World), and her largest work ever, the multi-story mosaic in Disney World's Contemporary Hotel concourse.
