The art of Maurice Sendak is the subject of a new exhibition at The Jewish Museum, where visitors can peruse the 140 original drawings, posters, theater sets and costumes produced from Sendak’s designs (partial online gallery here) as well as snuggle into a gallery transformed into the jungle inspired by Max’s room in Where The Wild Things Are. (And what kid, grown-up or not, has not dreamed of that?)
Sendak, born in 1928 to Jewish immigrants, has been working with playwright Tony Kushner on an intense children’s book/opera called Brundibar that, rather than answering the questions of life through art, has only brought more questions for Sendak. While one might think writing for children capricious, “he now feels that we can never truly overcome our own demons, never tame ‘the wild things.’”
Well. That’s depressing. But his illustrations always make us smile and we’ll definitely be checking out the exhibit when we take a field trip to Manhattan next month.