Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey

About the Reys’ Journey

H. A. Rey (né Hans Augusto Reyersbach) had no formal art training, but in the early 1920s designed and lithographed circus posters in Hamburg. Margret Rey (née Margarete Waldstein) studied art and photography at the Bauhaus School and then worked in advertising firms and photographic studios in Germany and England in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The two first met in Hamburg before Hans departed for Rio de Jane in 1925, to work for a relative. They were married in 1935, after Margret joined him there, following Hitler’s ascent to power in Germany.

An extended honeymoon took them to Paris, where the Reys stayed and began working on children’s books. Filled with gentle humor and illustrated with H. A. Rey’s vivid watercolors, their stories were usually formulated by Hans and later developed by Margret into a full plot.

Following the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939 and France’s declaration of war against Germany, the Reys sought refuge first in the southern region of the Gers and later in Normandy, fleeing Paris for the third and last time on June 12, 1940. Despite the difficulties, the Reys were prolific in France, publishing seven books from 1937 through 1939 (three in both French and English) and completing the manuscripts and drawings for at least four others later published in America. On October 14, 1940, the Reys finally reached New York. Within a month, four of the manuscripts they had brought with them were accepted for publication by the publisher Houghton Mifflin. George and Giraffe

Whether falsely alarming the fire department while experimenting with a telephone, going up in the air with a bunch of balloons or a kite, or falling in the water after a failed attempt to fish with a mop, the little monkey known as Curious George is always in trouble, both propelled and undone by his insatiable curiosity and appetite for adventure. While the idea of the monkey’s narrow escape from danger was introduced in the first Curious George story created by the Reys in France, the concept of “saving the day” is only used in their later books written while in the safety of the United States. By the time the man with the yellow hat comes to his rescue, George’s capers have already been mitigated with some poetic justice, which may be understood as emblematic of the important role the character had played both in saving the Reys’ lives when fleeing Nazi Europe and later helping them rebuild their careers in the United States. In turn, the little monkey born in France acts out the fantasies of many immigrants: he lands an acting job in Hollywood soon upon arrival, advances research by traveling in a spaceship, and makes it to the front page of newspapers, all the while becoming thoroughly Americanized.

Illustrations: Top - H. A. Rey, cover of dummy for La Rue: Découpages à colorer (unpublished), Paris, c. 1938, pen and ink, color pencil, and crayon on paper.

Bottom: Margret and H. A. Rey, United States, late 1940s.

Page Two: H. A. Rey, final illustration for “George climbed up until he was in the sunshine again, high above the rain cloud,” Raffy and the 9 Monkeys (1939).

All illustrations are from the H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.

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Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey

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