Mary Blair: Mid-Century Magic

Napa Valley Museum show celebrates the influential Disney designer and art director.

If you’re the type who obsesses over the latest Pantone shade, you won’t want to miss Mary Blair: Mid-Century Magic, which runs through October 25th, 2026, at the Napa Valley Museum Yountville. A favorite of Walt Disney for her color sense and creativity, Blair began her career with his company in 1940. One insider credited her with bringing “modern art to Walt in a way that no one else did,” and she made other, equally significant contributions to his studio’s mid-20th-century animated features.

The Blair artworks are in the collection of San Francisco’s Walt Disney Family Museum, which mounted a similar exhibition last year and a larger one a decade ago. The current selection includes pieces associated with “The Three Caballeros” (1943) and “Saludos Amigos” (1945), with separate displays dedicated to “Cinderella” (1950), “Alice in Wonderland” (1951), and “Peter Pan” (1953).

After “Peter Pan,” Blair went freelance for a spell in the 1950s and early 1960s, returning to the fold at Walt Disney’s request to work on “it’s a small world,” originally part of the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair and later a theme-park staple. Blair described that project as “the most interesting job I’ve ever had.”

With its focus on Disney’s initial golden era, Mary Blair: Mid-Century Magic has built-in nostalgic appeal. The Napa Valley Museum Yountville opens at 10 am, so it’s easy to stop by (Wednesday–Sunday) and still enjoy a full day of wine tasting.

Itinerary

The Napa Valley Museum Yountville appears in 2 Splendid Days in Walkable Yountville.

Info

55 Presidents Circle, Yountville 94599

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Lead image: George Hurrell (United States, 1904–1992). Portrait of Mary Blair in a peacock chair, 1945. Reproduction of original. Collection of the Walt Disney Family Foundation, 2015.14.1.