December 7, 2011 - Happy Birthday, Madame Tussaud

nBornnon this day in France in 1761, Marie Gresholtz learned to make waxnmodels from a doctor who made models as he studied anatomy. Dr.nCurtius began to make wax portraits, and he set up an exhibition innParis in 1765; Tussaud moved to Paris to be his assistant.

nTwo wax heads Curtius had made were carried by FrenchnRevolutionaries in a protest march two days before protestorsnattacked the infamous prison known as the Bastille. During the bloody French Revolution, Tussaud was arrested andnimprisoned. Her head was shaved to prepare her for execution bynguillotine, but a well-known actor who was also a revolutionarynvouched for her and her family, and Tussaud was released. Then—getnthis!— she was hired by the revolutionaries to make death masks ofnthose who weren’t so lucky! Since the revolutionaries were executingnFrance’s former royalty and nobles, the wax portraits Tussaud madenwere of the rich and powerful – or, rather, people who HAD BEENnrich and powerful.

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nInn1802, Tussaud went to London, where she tried to make a living bynexhibiting her collection of wax heads. Eventually she created anpermanent exhibit in London. At the entrance of the museum is anself-portrait of Tussaud herself, and several other sculptures donenby Tussaud herself still survive in the original Madame Tussaud’snmuseum.

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nMorenthan 200 years later, there are Madame Tussaud’s museums all over thenplace, including one only 30 miles away from my house!

A waxen Bruce Lee in the
Hong Kong Madame Tussaud’s

Lady Gaga – in wax

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nWhatnis wax?

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nThenword wax refers to a group ofnchemical compounds that are plastic (something that you can push andnpull in order to form various shapes) at temperatures higher thannroom temperature, but not that hot.nWax generally melts at 45 degrees C (113 degrees F). They are organicncompounds, and some are naturally made by animals and plants—thinknof the beeswax created by bees in order to create honeycombs, or thenwaxy coating inside our ears.

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nBecausenwax cannot dissolve in water, it resists water-based paints and dyes,nand therefore it can be used in a variety of art activities. Here arensome fun ideas using wax:

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nCrayonsn are waxy! Try out the projects suggested on the Crayola website,n especially the “Crayon Resist” idea (scroll down).

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nAnothern version of crayon resist is found at Incredible Art-dot-org.

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nHeren are some easy directions for batik.

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nEncaustic art works with melting wax to create landscapes. A low-cost version of this sort of art can be achieved with ann ordinary iron, waxed paper, and broken crayons, or other ordinary household materials.

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