| Maurice Sendak |
Maurice Bernard Sendak (born June 10, 1928) 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. He spent much of the 1950s working as an artist for children's books, before beginning to write his own stories.
Sendak gained international acclaim after writing and illustrating Where the Wild Things Are, though the book's depictions of fanged monsters concerned 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.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.
Kids: Innocence and Experience
In Sendak’s balanced view of childhood, the innocence of being a child also exists alongside difficult realities. This holistic perspective of childhood reflects Sendak’s own upbringing. On the one hand, he grew up in the magical New York of the 1930s and 40s, where he soaked up the thrilling stories told within his family by his father and brother, and immersed himself in films and Mickey Mouse cartoons; on the other, Sendak suffered near-death experiences with pneumonia and scarlet fever, and was terrified by the extermination of his Jewish relatives in the Holocaust. To Sendak, childhood is a bit of a mess, but its messiness is also what engages him as an artist. He finds important truths in the logic children use to cope with reality. Sendak harnesses that logic in his fantasies, using it to explore the “Other Story” of his own complicated childhood. This theme is dedicated to children’s behavior, emotions, and fantasies in Sendak’s art and the wide variety of styles with which he depicts them. Through these child characters, you can discover how Sendak explores his own memories and feelings from a child’s perspective and stays in tune with his own child-self.
Beasts of Burden
Sendak’s monsters and villains are his primordial fears made flesh (and fur, and feathers, and scales), and they embody the mysterious “Other Story” that Sendak constantly searches for in his illustrations. He described some of these creatures as, “Demonic people, wild things, something in disorder that races through the world, and that we have to live with.” Sendak uses these characters as tools with which to confront unresolved issues such as the legacy of the Holocaust, the Lindbergh kidnapping, and his own complicated family relationships. Because his villains and monsters represent forces of “disorder,” stories about challenging, overcoming, and befriending them are a form of resolution for Sendak. While some of Sendak’s creatures and villains may be frightening, they all exert a charisma that is unique to Sendak as an illustrator. He knows that we take a certain amount of pleasure in courting the danger of nightmare visions, because what scares us can also serve to strengthen us. Look for that same intertwining of peril and playfulness among these beasts that communicate Sendak’s burdens.
Influences
For Sendak, art is a process of self-discovery, of finding the Other Story within himself. His passion for the artists he loves brings out this Other Story as he channels artistic, musical, and literary influences into his work. As Sendak commented, “You have to find something unique in [each] book…. And that’s what you hold onto, and that’s what you add to the pictures: a whole Other Story that you believe in, that you think is there.” Illustrating a Melville novel enabled Sendak to explore themes of passion and sexuality in his art, just as he used the Grimm story Dear Mili to convey a Holocaust narrative and Outside Over There to express his adoration for the music of Mozart. In the illustrations here, you will find Sendak communicating both the magic that his influences hold for him and the mystery that they inspire.
Into the Forest
Sendak’s dynamic cityscapes, landscapes, and scenery are layered with references to friends and family, events, and nostalgia for the New York of his childhood. His “trilogy” highlights the importance of setting in its very titles: Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There. These fantasy lands each have their own unique mood and concealed secrets that hint at the emotional core of the story. The illustrations here survey the haunted yet captivating forest and landscape imagery within Sendak’s stories, and their stylistic breadth. By looking closely at these various settings and fantasy spaces, you can discover how Sendak channels undercurrents of remembrance, humor, and ambiguity in his stories.
Original art by Maurice Sendak is held in the private collection of Michael & Sharla McDowell and on display at POP Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. |
|
