Date
Fall 2026
Location
Lower Lobby and Theater Gallery
This fall, we are delighted to bring back one of our most celebrated original exhibitions: Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle. Co-curated by CEO of Eyvind Earle Publishing Ioan Szasz and museum Director of Collections and Exhibitions Marina Villar Delgado, Awaking Beauty explores the life and work of prolific American artist and Disney Legend Eyvind Earle.
Earle is best known as the color stylist, the artist determining not only the colors but the entire visual look for Walt Disney’s classic feature Sleeping Beauty (1959), and for concept and background art that shaped such endearing films as Lady and the Tramp (1955), The Truth About Mother Goose (1957), Paul Bunyan (1958), and others.
Reflecting on his time at The Walt Disney Studios, Earle once said, “I put myself through art school and Walt Disney paid me a good salary all the while I unwittingly developed the style of painting, or rather, perfected the style that would stay with me the rest of my life.’”
Drawing inspiration from medieval tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, Pre-Renaissance Northern European painting, and the American landscape, Earle created visual worlds of breathtaking detail and stylized grandeur. His richly patterned backgrounds—some taking nearly ten times longer to complete than a typical Disney background—gave his animated films a distinct, jewel-toned, "moving illustration" quality.
In addition to his work at the Disney Studios, Earle’s distinctive interpretation of iconic American landscapes as a fine artist and printmaker continues to influence generations of artists and designers, notably on Walt Disney Animation’s Studios’ Pocahontas (1995) and Frozen (2013) and the design of Disneyland Paris' Sleeping Beauty Castle (Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant) in Disneyland Paris.
For his work on Sleeping Beauty and his contributions to animation, The Walt Disney Company posthumously awarded Earle the prestigious Disney Legend Award in 2015.
Following the popularity of the museum’s original retrospective in 2017, Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle has been thoughtfully reenvisioned for the museum’s Lower Level Galleries, including two new gallery spaces debuting for this special exhibition. This new iteration will take a closer look at Earle’s career at The Walt Disney Studios and feature a diverse range of both Disney-era art and personal work, including pieces not featured in the 2017 exhibition and recently acquired paintings that will be on view at the museum for the first time.
Admission for Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle can be added to general admission or purchased separately; tickets will be available September 7, 2026.