Philippe’s grandson, Philip, inherited a locked box of his grandfather’s artwork, with instructions that it not be opened for 30 years. In 1951 Philip opened the box, and set about to realize his grandfather’s dream of publishing, using the assumed name “P. D. Eastman.” Philip fils was a better story-teller than Philippe père, and was competent enough as an artist to emulate and extend his grandfather’s style. As the NCCIL exhibit demonstrates, the first three books under P. D. Eastman’s name were patched together from his grandfather’s collection of sketches, but after that, the stories and illustrations were all from Philip, with an occasional character borrowed from Philippe’s sketchbook. In deference to his grandfather’s wishes, Philip himself never discussed the origins of the work, and instead locked everything up with instructions that his box too was not to be opened until 30 years after his death. And so it was that on January 7, 2016, the link between Gauguin and Eastman was rediscovered, and with the opening of the exhibit this April 1, it was finally revealed to the world.
