What to Know
- "Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak"
- The Skirball Cultural Center; exhibit is included with admission
- April 18 through Sept. 1, 2024; over 150 pieces, including sketches and paintings, will be on view
The realm of childhood is playfully populated by all sorts of surreal and spectacular beasties, the colorful and quirky critters that kids draw, paint, mold out of dough, and dream up for their silliest yet most profound stories.
And while we'll forever hang onto the fingerpaintings that feature aliens with sparkly eyes and dinosaurs with nine legs, we'll also keep those celebrated books that showed millions of youngsters the way to whimsy.
Maurice Sendak, the adored and acclaimed author and artist behind "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen," was just the happy-hearted guide that generations looked to during their literary adventures.
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But Mr. Sendak, who passed away 2012, wasn't solely about gleeful adventuring of the sunniest variety; his imaginative worlds were filled with monsters, too, and a respect for the fact that childhood wasn't always cheery.
"Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak," a large-scale exhibit opening at the Skirball Cultural Center on April 18, will explore and honor those worlds.
Over 150 pieces, from paintings to sketches, will be on view at "the largest and most complete exhibition of his work to date."
"Twenty years ago, the Skirball had the chance to celebrate the vision of Maurice Sendak. In that show, we got to visit with Max in his bedroom, slide into a giant bowl of chicken soup with rice, and see reproductions of Sendak's brilliant work," shared Skirball Cultural Center President and CEO Jessie Kornberg.
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"This second visit with Sendak isn't just a chance for a whole new generation to become familiar with some of the most indelible and beautiful characters in all of childhood. It's a chance to appreciate the astonishing breadth and depth of Sendak's artistry — from children's books to toys to opera sets — to learn about his life from childhood to adulthood, and to gain insight into the impact of his Jewish heritage."
While many fans know Mr. Sendak's role in children's literature, he also adored theater and opera, possessing a special affection for the music of Mozart. Sketches and designs of an operatic variety will also be on view during the exhibition, which runs through Sept. 1, 2024.
"I love opera beyond anything, and Mozart beyond anything," shared the author.
More offbeat sights within the exhibition include footage from 1999 when a huge balloon paying tribute to "Where the Wild Things Are" appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
And a reading area will give visitors the chance to delve into books in an unhurried, linger-awhile way.
"The brilliant Maurice Sendak created work that, while informed by his own personal history, reaches across generations and communities," commented Sheri Bernstein, Skirball Cultural Center Museum Director.
"This landmark exhibition puts Sendak forward as the expansive, creative force that he was, with an inimitable power to move and delight people. It fits beautifully with the Skirball's goal of presenting exhibitions that both humanize and celebrate the vastly different people who have enriched American culture."
Pictured: Maurice Sendak, "Where the Wild Things Are (detail)," 1963, tempera on paper, 9 ¾ x 22”, ©The Maurice Sendak Foundation
