The Doll Podcast Louisa Maxwell

Stuart Holbrook president of Theriault’s Auction House joins The Doll Podcast host Louisa Maxwell to  discuss  rare dolls by Austrian artist Lilli Baitz from the collection of Rosalie Whyel.  Rosalie Whyel founded of the award winning Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art in Seattle Washington . Stuart tells the story of this major collection of Lilli Baitz dolls and how Rosalie Whyel preserved these dolls for future generations to enjoy.
Austrian artist Lilli Baitz trained in art schools in Florence, Munich and Vienna. She established her studio in Berlin with her husband Roman in 1909. Lilli Baitz created beautifully costumed and sculpted dolls and figures dressed in costumes depicting traditional Austrian dress. She also sculpted languid boudoir dolls and capturing the likeness of stage and screen stars like Mary Pickford, Ellen Terry and Lilly Langtree. 
 
 Lilli and Roman’s company  was renowned for their dolls and elaborate Christmas landscapes and magical fairy tale scenes. They soon attracted the attention of major department stores throughout Europe and the USA. They worked on projects for Metro Goldwyn-Mayer studios producing figures of stars such as Laurel and Hardy and Mary Pickford for film promotions in Europe.

Stuart Holbrook, president of Theriault’s auction house, joins  host Louisa Maxwell to  discuss  the legacy of Rosalie Whyel,  the founder of 'The Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art' in Seattle Washington. 
 
 Rosalie Whyel wanted dolls to teach and inspire new generations and she shared that dream with thousand of visitors for 25 years. Stuart Holbrook knew Rosalie very well and tells the story of how she created a collection to inspire the world. 
Sadly we lost Rosalie this year and her friend Stuart Holbrook was entrusted to appraise and auction the collection of a lifetime. Stuart shares the stories of Rosalie and the dolls that became a legendary  collection.

Madame Alexander has been making dolls for over 100 years - the key to her success was innovation and quality.  
Curator  Sara Woodbury joins host Louisa Maxwell for Part  2 of the podcast  discussing the The Barry Art Museum's exhibition Fashioning Innovation Madame Alexander at 100  celebrating the centenary of The Madame Alexander Doll company and its founder Beatrice Alexander. 
In 1955 Beatrice Alexander introduced her fashion doll 'Cissy'.   Her character was based on the modern American debutante and she had a couture inspired wardrobe.
Madame Alexander  was recognised with an award from  the ‘New York Fashion Academy”  for her contribution to fashion. She drew inspiration from New York designers and Cissy brought these couture inspirations to life.

In Part two Sara and Louisa discuss Madame Alexander's fashion dolls and also compare Cissy to another 50's fashion icon Barbie Doll. 

The  Madame Alexander  doll company  has been making dolls for over 100 years - and the key to their success is innovation and quality. 

Museum Curator Sara Woodbury joins host Louisa Maxwell to discuss  a new exhibition at The Barry Art Museum entitled  Fashioning Innovation, Madame Alexander at 100 . The exhibition celebrates the centenary of The Madame Alexander  doll company and its founder Beatrice Alexander. 
The Barry Art Museum, is the cultural hub of the Old Dominion University, located in Virginia USA . The museum displays fine art in all its forms: painting, sculpture, glass and a superb collection showcasing the art of doll making. Sara is a scholar and curator, dedicated to expanding how museums define art and provide access to it, we are delighted that she is bringing her unique perspective on dolls as guest curator at The Barry Art Museum.

Madame Alexander had a dream to educate through dolls and 100 years later, Madame’s legacy is still inspiring new generations of children.   Designer and author Bruce A. de Armond joins host Louisa Maxwell to discuss the life and work of Beatrice Alexander. 
 
 Madame was born Bertha (Beatrice) Alexander, in New York’s lower East side where her father had a doll shop and hospital. Beatrice trained and worked as a bookkeeper but the advent of World War One and a shortage of the supply of dolls from Europe inspired Beatrice and sisters to create their own cloth dolls. The success of the cloth dolls persuaded Beatrice to launch the Alexander Doll company in 1923 and began her legendary collaboration with toy store FAO Schwarz in New York. 
Beatrice styled herself as “Madame “ Alexander capitalising on her European roots to give an aura of glamour to the brand. Madame Alexander had vision as a designer and as a business person. She negotiated a variety of licensed deals to make dolls in the likenesses of Hollywood stars: Jane Withers, Judy Garland, Sonja Henie, Carmen Miranda and Scarlett O’Hara. 
She launched the chic fashion doll Cissy who gained world wide recognition as the face of British beauty brand Yardley. Now in 2023, a century later, Madame Alexander’s dolls are still celebrated and collected as they appeal, not only to doll collectors but to lovers of film and pop culture. 
Bruce A. de Armond is an interior designer  with an international portfolio creating signature styes for hotels, casinos and department stores. Bruce combines his interests in art, dolls and fashion by working with museum collections, auction houses, and contributing to books on vintage dolls. Bruce A. deArmond’s blog dolledition.com explores the ever evolving story of dolls and fashion. 

Doll Podcast host Louisa Maxwell charts the journey of Barbie from pop culture icon to movie star.

Barbie is the girl that has it all: a hit movie, a dream house and then there is Ken  - Barbie’s favourite accessory. In her over 60 years she has been immortalised by Andy Warhol  and dressed by a rota of top fashion designers including: Oscar de la Renta, Bob Mackie, Yves Saint Laurent, Escada, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood, Givenchy and too many more to mention in just one podcast.   Now she has made box office history with a record breaking movie. So  what's next for Barbie doll, an Oscar?  But where did the story start and how did a simple doll, for children to dress and undress, become a pop culture icon?