tikichris

Line block print, hand coloured by E.H. Shepard, reproduced with permission from the Shepard Trust

Judith Schrut celebrates all things bear at the V&A’s new Winnie-the-Pooh exhibition.

Is it my imagination or have you noticed it too?  Could this be the era of The Bear?  First came last year’s astonishing baseball World Series victory by the Chicago Cubs.  A few months back China  proudly welcomed a record number of baby pandas into the world, an incredible 42 including 5 sets of twins, thus removing the giant panda from endangered animals lists.  Then, the release of two major bear movies,  Paddington 2 and Goodbye Christopher Robin,  and the 50^th anniversary since grizzly Gentle Ben first starred on US television.   And,  just the other day, a tall dark handsome stranger with a prominent American accent passed me on a London street and loudly greeted,   ‘Go Bears!’ (although that may have had more to do with the luminous UC Berkeley alumni hoodie I was wearing at the time).

Now, the wonderful Victoria & Albert Museum bares all with its big, new, clever exhibition,  Winnie-the-Pooh: Discovering a Classic.    Continue reading →