By Christopher Liu
It was during her childhood that little Marie Grosholtz learned to become an artist and sculptor. Having honed her talent with the employer of her mother, she created her first wax figures in 1777 at the age of sixteen. The employer of her mother was an artist, physicist and physician Philippe Curtius. At the age of Twenty-four, the young woman married and became Madam Tussaud. Recognized for her talent in France, it was in England that the artist became famous. In London, Marie Tussaud has her own wax statue, a beautiful portrait.
The history of Madame Tussaud
Marie was a Marianne, a figure of the French Revolution. Her early accomplishments as an artist-sculptor hinted her ideas, her commitment. After participating in the exhibition projects of his mentor, the doctor Philippe Curtius, she began to make her own works by immortalizing writers and philosophers, in 1777 Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1778. The rebel was sentenced to the guillotine, but through her artistic talent, she was fortunately spared. Her sentence proved very strange indeed she had to make death masks for beheaded. She had immortalized the faces of her friends died for the revolution.
In 1794, Marie inherited the figures of his mentor Philippe Curtius before becoming Madam Tussaud a year later. For her husband Francois Tussaud, she gave birth to two sons. The artist continued her work and decided to exhibit her collection in London in 1802, accompanied by her eldest son. Because of the war, she found herself sheltered in England where she continued to present her masterpiece in exhibitions. Permanently installed across the channel, Marie Tussaud chose London as the final destination. No more traveling exhibition in 1835, she then opened the Baker Street Bazaar to display her collections. The artist presented the figures of the revolutionaries and their murderers, staged in what would be called House of Horrors.
A multinational museum
In 1884, more than thirty years after the death of Marie Tussaud, the museum which displayed her works was moved to Marylebone Road, its current location. In 1926, after a fire that ravaged many works, the company Tussauds Group is created. After having pasted figurines melted by the flames, the museum was undergoing a veritable revolution. It became one of the most important tourist attractions of London. The company Tussauds then set out to conquer the world. Officially known as Madame Tussauds, wax museums are multiplying in the largest cities in the world such as Amsterdam to Las Vegas via New York and Hong Kong and Shanghai and Washington and Berlin and Los Angeles recently. A hugely successful multinational company, the Tussauds Group was bought out several times. In 2007, the buyer called Merlin Entertainments, which has invested one billion pounds.
In Hollywood, actors and film legends are immortalized at Madame Tussauds. Some of the cinema stars have their wax statue in several cities, like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nicolas Cage, Whoopi Goldberg and Marilyn Monroe. At Madame Tussauds, the singers also have right to glory. The legends as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Madonna compete with young stars like Britney Spears or international Beyonce. Politicians are not forgotten by history when they are at Madame Tussauds, the example of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, John Kennedy. Certainly, being chairman of a country deserves a statue, without political considerations.
The Nicolas Sarkozy, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler have their figures in at least one of wax museums. In London, at the site of Madame Tussauds, the statues of more than 400 personalities are exhibited in the Hall of Fame. Usually, celebrities lend themselves gracefully to the opening of their statue in a wax museum as Madame Tussauds. There are some exceptions particularly among politicians who are more reticent. At Madame Tussaud's, the value does not expect the number of years. It's more than true for personalities from the world of film, song and sport. Roles of teenagers like Harry Potter or Troy Bolton from High School Musical have brought Daniel Radcliffe and Zac Efron in the temple of celebrity wax. Young champions such as Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton or footballer Wayne Rooney will access to glory soon.
To perform a full tour of Madame Tussauds, it takes about two hours. Through various events, visitors do not see the time passing. When you are hurry, you can go directly to your favorite star and be photographed with her. Simply place like a statue. More than a house of fame, the museum Madame Tussauds is not limited to offer entertainment. It opens a window on history by featuring characters from another generation.
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