This Auction’s Gonna Be Wild: Maurice Sendak’s Art Up for Grabs
Heritage Auctions celebrates the enduring legacy of Maurice Sendak. Own a piece of Wild Things magic!
Generations have grown up reading Maurice Sendak, whose fantastical stories and vivid illustrations captured childhood's wonder, mysteries, and challenges. One of his most beloved books, widely considered the greatest children's book of all time, is Where the Wild Things Are, winner of the 1964 Caldecott Award. Sendak's art in the iconic Wild Things and Max, the boy who travels to their island and becomes their king, are featured in the group "50 Years of Sendak: The Museum Tour Collection," offered in Heritage Auctions' May 2 Illustration Art Signature Auction.
The 28 auction lots in the grouping were exhibited in the Sendak in Soho show at New York's AFA Gallery, coinciding with the release of Spike Jonze's film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are in 2009. The artworks were also part of the traveling exhibit Maurice Sendak: 50 Years, 50 Works, 50 Reasons, which began in 2012 and commemorated the book's 50th anniversary.
"It's one of the first times that people are able to acquire art directly from a museum exhibition. It is truly a rare opportunity," says Meagan McMillan, Senior Specialist of Illustration Art at Heritage Auctions. McMillan considers Sendak's 1988 watercolor and ink poster art for the Imagination Celebration at the John F. Kennedy Center to be the highlight of the collection, calling it "an iconic, widely reproduced and beloved example of his poster work, which for decades encouraged childhood creativity and arts engagement, and is as significant part of his legacy as his Wild Things work."
Other lots include Sendak's designs for stage productions, costume concept art for the Wild Things of the 2009 film, and Sendak's only bronze sculpture, which depicts Max's encounter with a sea monster on his way to the Wild Things' island. Other works by Sendak, like his book In the Night Kitchen and the musical Really Rosie, are also represented. The collection also includes some of Sendak's Mickey Mouse art. Sendak was born the same year Mickey Mouse was created, 1928, and considered the character a lifelong influence.
In addition to the Sendak collection, the auction offers an assortment of magazine illustrations, advertising art, pinups, poster art, and paperback cover designs. Represented artists include Joseph Christian Leyendecker, Charles Addams, Frank Frazetta, and many more.
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