The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to Present [Hardcover]

Tony Kushner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003

Maurice Sendak ranks as one of the best known and loved children's book artists in the USA, and has been awarded both the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and the Caldecott Medal. This volume picks up where Selma Lanes' monograph of his work "The Art of Maurice Sendak", published in 1980, leaves off, tracing Sendak's life and work from 1980 to 2003. An extended essay by playwright Tony Kushner, a long-time friend of Sendak's provides an intimate view of the artist. Kushner not only gives a chronological overview of Sendak's work, but also allows us to see him as an accomplished author and artist redefining his legacy, and as a man coming to terms with himself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first volume of The Art of Maurice Sendak, published when he was 53, covered the period 1951–1981, and spanned more than 80 books, including Sendak’s signature, Caldecott-winning book, Where the Wild Things Are. This new collection presents 350 illustrations, many of which are drawings for set and costume design work, which Sendak has been producing prolifically, others of which are posters for plays and for events such as the New York is Book Country fair. The style of all these works will be familiar to fans of Wild Things; Sendak’s precise, intensely shaded yet welcoming shapes and figures have lost none of their luster. They would ordinarily be enough in themselves in a survey like this, but Kushner’s lovely, funny, partisan text ("I’ve been his devoted fan since I was four years old") lifts the book to another level. It’s not often that the subject of such as book is matched with a writer as gifted and assured. His discussion of the book’s better known gems—such as the poster for Really Rosie (the theatre production based on Sendak’s book of the same name)—as well as his analysis of less celebrated works—such as Sendak’s Blakean illustrations for an edition of Kleist’s Penthesilea—help makes this volume a worthy companion to Selma Lane’s initial, classic collection.
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From School Library Journal

It has been 20 years since Selma G. Lanes's The Art of Maurice Sendak (Abrams, 1998) provided a "picture biography" of this groundbreaking picture-book creator. This companion volume has the same coffee-table size and is as copiously illustrated, but its new page design and approach reflect the new directions in Sendak's career as an operatic "theater artist." Playwright Tony Kushner's "unapologetically subjective" paean is divided into a prologue and six movements. They include a recapitulation of Sendak's life and work to 1980; an analysis of the "trilogy" Outside Over There, Dear Mili, and We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy; brief mention of other books since 1981; and an extended analysis of Sendak's work in the opera world. Kushner's book is a more intimate portrait than Lanes's. It addresses not only Sendak's projects but also his aesthetics and psychology. Academic institutions with programs in the arts, even those without Lanes's book, will find the volume valuable.-Sue Burgess, Framingham State College, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810944480
• ISBN-13: 978-0810944480
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 11.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tony Kushner's plays include A Bright Room Called Day and Slavs!; as well as adaptations of Corneille's The Illusion, Ansky's The Dybbuk, Brecht's The Good Person of Szecguan and Goethe's Stella. Current projects include: Henry Box Brown or The Mirror of Slavery; and two musical plays: St. Cecilia or The Power of Music and Caroline or Change. His collaboration with Maurice Sendak on an American version of the children's opera, Brundibar, appeared in book form Fall 2003. Kushner grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he lives in New York.