LUDWIG BEMELMANS (1898-1962) was an Austrian-born American writer, artist and illustrator. He emigrated from Austria to America in 1914, at the age of sixteen, and initially worked in the New York hotel industry before becoming a full-time cartoonist and writer. As an illustrator, he made frequent contributions to the New Yorker, Vogue and Town and Country, and created the famous murals in the Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel in New York. He published many books for both children and adults, including the beloved Madeline children's books.