Maurice and His Monsters

Though Maurice Sendak may be best known for writing and illustrating the beloved children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, many of his now grown-up fans may be surprised to hear his alternate universe of monsters and scrappy kids exploring dark forests and city streets has been featured in over a hundred books, along with television shows and stage plays.

Fans young and old alike have the opportunity to peruse the highlights of his vast body of work at the Rosenbach Museum’s retrospective There’s A Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak, which opened this week and runs until May 3, 2009.

The exhibit goes beyond simply displaying Sendak’s work, ambitiously charting the myriad influences at play during creation. We learn the inspirations for his characters and the impact of Sendak’s upbringing on the stories he told; the literary works drawn upon; even the impact of his favorite music coursing through each piece. Aiding these explanations in each gallery are touch-screens featuring substantive recent interviews with the artist.

It’s hard not to feel moved while following the paw prints on the floor guiding visitors throughout the exhibit. Sendak’s young characters navigate fantastic, but no less threatening versions of the adult world we live in; and the fear and excitement felt by them often correlates directly to Sendak’s own concerns. Those scary monsters we believed were on the prowl as children are no less threatening now, as Sendak shows so clearly.

Sendak donated the bulk of his vast collection of manuscripts, dummy books, illustrations and photographs to the Rosenbach Museum in the early 1970s. Curator Patrick Rodgers pulled many of these pieces out for the two-floor exhibit, and plans to rotate the collection on display there every four months.

Devoted Sendak fans can dig even deeper into his world by attending any of the talks on his work being hosted at the Rosenbach. On May 14, Rodgers will explain the sources of Sendak’s most enduring monsters. On June 25, there will be a lecture on the influences of Sendak’s sexuality in his work. Then on July 16, Judith Guston, the Rosenbach’s Director of Collections will explain Sendak’s connection to dogs and how they manifest in his work.

Image credit: Preliminary drawing for Where the Wild Things Are, © Maurice Sendak, ca. 1963, All rights reserved.