Ramsay Harris was a Renaissance man. He patented inventions, penned songs, and wrote poems. He played the piano and the musical saw. He instructed Army Air Force pilots, dabbled with paleontology, and, for over 40 years at the private Webb School, he taught history, literature, Latin, and, on occasion, religion. He was also an amateur cartoonist, who, upon first meeting animator brothers Preston and Lee Blair in 1920s Redlands, California, was immediately drawn to their intellect and artistic talents. Kindred spirits in their quest for creative expression, Harris and the Blairs fortified their friendships over decades of letter writing, sharing with each other words of support, advice, ideas, and family news?Harris came to know Lee's wife, legendary Disney artist Mary Blair, and his own character, Herbert the Ant, may have aided Preston in the modeling of Jiminy Cricket. The Ramsay Harris collection includes several incredibly rare and significant pieces of artwork that were obtained directly from Preston and Lee Blair, highlights of which include a collaborative watercolor painting from Lee and Mary Blair, Preston's early character drawings of his larger-than-life Fantasia creation, Hyacinth Hippo, and an unprecedented assemblage of 47 'motion sequence' drawings of Jiminy Cricket, an amazingly early movement study from Preston's work on Pinocchio.
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