Maurice Sendak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Maurice Sendak
Born June 10, 1928 (1928-06-10) (age 80)
Brooklyn, New York
Occupation artist, illustrator, writer
Nationality American
Writing period 1947 - present
Genres Children's literature

Maurice Bernard Sendak (born June 10, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature who is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963. An elementary school (from kindergarten to grade five) in North Hollywood, California, is named in his honor.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Polish-Jewish immigrant parents, and decided to become an illustrator after viewing Walt Disney's film Fantasia at the age of twelve. His illustrations were first published in 1947 in a textbook titled Atomics for the Millions by Dr. Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff. He spent much of the 1950s working as an artist for children's books, before beginning to write his own stories.

Contents

[edit] Work

Sendak gained international acclaim after writing and illustrating Where the Wild Things Are, although the book's depictions of fanged monsters concerned some parents when it was first released, as his characters were somewhat grotesque in appearance. Sendak's seeming attraction to the forbidden or nightmarish aspects of children's fantasy have made him a subject of controversy. Before Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak was best known for illustrating Else Holmelund Minarik's Little Bear series of books.[1]

His book In the Night Kitchen, first published in 1970, has often been subjected to censorship for its drawings of a young boy prancing naked through the story. The book has been challenged, and in some instances banned, in several American states including Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Texas.

In the Night Kitchen regularly appears on the American Library Association's list of "frequently challenged and banned books." It was listed number 25 on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000."[2]

Sendak was an early member of the National Board of Advisors of the Children's Television Workshop during the development stages of the television series Sesame Street. He also wrote and designed an animated sequence for the series, Bumble Ardy, based on his own book, and with Jim Henson as the voice of Bumble Ardy.

Sendak produced an animated television production based on his work titled Really Rosie, featuring the voice of Carole King, which was broadcast in 1975 and is available on video (usually as part of video compilations of his work). An album of the songs was also produced. He contributed the opening segment to Simple Gifts, a Christmas collection of six animated shorts shown on PBS TV in 1977 and later issued on VHS in 1993. He adapted his book Where the Wild Things Are for the stage in 1979. Additionally, he has designed sets for many operas and ballets, including the award-winning (1983) Pacific Northwest Ballet production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker , Houston Grand Opera's productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute (1981) and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel (1997), Los Angeles County Music Center's 1990 production of Mozart's Idomeneo, and the New York City Opera's 1981 production of The Cunning Little Vixen.

In the 1990s, Sendak approached playwright Tony Kushner to write a new English version of the Czech composer Hans Krása's children's opera Brundibar. Kushner wrote the text for Sendak's illustrated book of the same name, published in 2003. The book was named one of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2003.

In 2003, Chicago Opera Theatre produced Sendak and Kushner's adaptation of Brundibar. In 2005 Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in collaboration with Yale Repertory Theatre and Broadway's New Victory Theater, produced a substantially reworked version of the Sendak-Kushner adaptation.

He also created the children's television program Seven Little Monsters.

[edit] Personal

Sendak mentioned in a September, 2008 article in The New York Times that he is gay, and had been living with his partner, psychoanalyst Eugene Glynn, from 1957 until Dr. Glynn’s death in May 2007. Revealing that he never told his parents, he said, "All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew."[3] Sendak's relationship with Glynn had been mentioned by other writers before (e.g., by Tony Kushner in 2003[4]) but his sexuality wasn't widely known before the New York Times article.[citation needed]

In an interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Sendak said that his depiction of the cooks in In the Night Kitchen (they had Hitler-esque mustaches) and the fact that they tried to cook the boy in their ovens were references to the Holocaust, a subject high in his thoughts especially due to his Jewish heritage.[5]

[edit] The Maurice Sendak Collection at The Rosenbach Museum & Library

Sendak chose the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, PA to be the repository for his work in the early 1970s thanks to shared literary and collecting interests. His collection of nearly 10,000 works of art, manuscripts, books and ephemera, has been the subject of many exhibitions at the Rosenbach, seen by visitors of all ages. Sendak once praised Herman Melville’s writings, saying, “There’s a mystery there, a clue, a nut, a bolt, and if I put it together, I find me.” From May 6, 2008, through May 3, 2009, the Rosenbach will present There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak. This major retrospective of over 130 pieces pulled from the museum’s vast Sendak collection—the biggest collection of Sendakiana in the world—is the largest and most ambitious exhibition of Sendak’s work ever created and will feature original artwork, rare sketches, never-before-seen working materials, and exclusive interview footage. The exhibition will draw on a total of over 300 objects, with new works on display every four months, providing a unique experience with each set of illustrations.

Exhibition highlights include the following:

  • Original color artwork from books such as Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, The Nutshell Library, Outside Over There, and Brundibar.
  • “Dummy” books filled with lively preliminary sketches for titles like The Sign on Rosie’s Door, Pierre, and Higglety, Pigglety, Pop!
  • Never-before-seen working materials, such as newspaper clippings that inspired Sendak, family portraits, photographs of child models and other ephemera.
  • Rare sketches for unpublished editions of stories such as Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, and other illustrating projects.
  • Unique materials from the Rosenbach collection that relate to Sendak’s work, including an 1853 edition of the tales of the Brothers Grimm, sketches by William Blake, and Herman Melville’s bookcase.
  • Stories told by the illustrator himself on topics like Alice in Wonderland, his struggle to illustrate his favorite novels, hilarious stories of Brooklyn, and the way his work helps him exorcise childhood traumas.

[edit] Awards

Where the Wild Things Are won the 1964 Caldecott Medal. In 1970 he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's book illustration, and in 2003 he shared the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award with Christine Nöstlinger, the first time it was awarded.

[edit] Film

A live-action movie version is currently in post-production, with Spike Jonze directing and a screenplay by Dave Eggers, Michael Goldenberg and Spike Jonze, due in theaters on October 16, 2009.

[edit] Partial bibliography

  • Kenny's Window (1956)
  • Very Far Away (1957)
  • The Sign On Rosie's Door (1960)
  • The Nutshell Library (1962)
    • Chicken Soup with Rice (A Book of Months)
    • Alligators All Around (An Alphabet)
    • One Was Johnny (A Counting Book)
    • Pierre (A Cautionary Tale)
  • Where the Wild Things Are (1963)
  • In the Night Kitchen (1970)
  • Ten Little Rabbits: A Counting Book With Mino The Magician (1970)
  • Some Swell Pup or Are You Sure You Want a Dog? (written by Maurice Sendak & Matthew Margolis and illustrated by Maurice Sendak) (1976)
  • Seven Little Monsters' (1977)
  • Higglety Pigglety Pop!, Or: There Must be More to Life (1967) ISBN 0-06-028479-X
  • Fantasy Sketches (1981)
  • Outside Over There (1981)
  • We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy: Two Nursery Rhymes with Pictures (Harper Collins) (1983)
  • Singing Family of the Cumberlands (written by Jean Ritchie)
  • Maurice Sendak's Christmas Mystery (1995) (a box with a Book and a Jigsaw Puzzle)
  • Hector Protector and As I Went Over the Water: Two Nursery Rhymes
  • Caldecott and Co: Notes on Books and Pictures (1990)
  • Mommy? (Maurice Sendak's first Pop-up book) (2006) ISBN 0-439-88050-5

[edit] Partial bibliography as illustrator

[edit] Collections

  • The Art Of Maurice Sendak (By Selma G. Lanes) (1980)
  • The Art Of Maurice Sendak: From 1980 to the Present (by Tony Kushner) (2003)

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2091696/
  2. ^ The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000 American Library Association
  3. ^ Cohen, Patricia, The New York Times (September 9, 2008). "Concerns Beyond Just Where the Wild Things Are". http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/arts/design/10sendak.html. 
  4. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/dec/06/booksforchildrenandteenagers
  5. ^ http://www.npr.org NPR interview originally aired 30 October 2003 and repeated 12 September 2008

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik
Authors
Else Holmelund Minarik (writer) · Maurice Sendak (illustrator)
Books
Little Bear (TV series) (1995–2000)
Other Articles
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Sendak"
Personal tools