A One-of-a-Kind Maurice Sendak Exhibit Opens at the Denver Art Museum

Denver is a trailblazer when it comes to all things arts and culture.

Photo by Jenn Dechtman

The newest Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver Art Museum continues the museum’s fall tradition of bringing special art stories to Denver that can’t be seen anywhere else in the world.  Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak is a one of a kind compilation of the famous children’s illustrators life work. While it unfolds a fantastical and whimsical experience mirroring the spirit of artist and illustrator Maurice Sendak’s art, it is contextually layered with substantive facts, thoughtful philosophy and decades of art history.

Maurice Sendak’s Roots and Inspiration

The exhibit starts with Sendak’s early years and his Jewish roots in Brooklyn New York from his birth in 1928.

Simply childhood for me was shtetl life in Brooklyn filled of old world reverberations – and Walt Disney and the occasional trip to the incredibly windowed uptown that was New York – America.

The exhibit walks you through his childhood world of Mickey Mouse and King Kong and later influences: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mark Chagall, Henry Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. The creative geniuses from the 1930s that impacted his work are documented in a larger-than-life way figuratively and literally.

Despite its numerous captions and long descriptions, the exhibit is anything but boring.  The lengths the curators went to have the rights and material to show ancillary Disney images and massive props from movies and operas is just the tip of the fullness and comprehensive nature of the presentation.

The details of his early years masterfully convey how compassionate and creative Sendak was even as a young person.  What could have been a quite simple childhood was anything but given his innate imagination and feeling heart.

As a young boy, Sendak looked through baskets of old photographs of past relatives. Then, he drew them as characters on a page enabling their lives could continue in perpetuity long past the Holocaust and the European programs. Having a basket of old black and white photographs of nameless Jewish ancestors in my own living room growing up, resonated in a powerful way.

While he wasn’t particularly observant, I noticed signs throughout the exhibit of ways his jewish roots influenced his work throughout. Even the phrase, “Wild Things” is based on the Yiddish phrase vilde chaya. Most jewish parents at some point in their parenthood have told their children to settle down and not act like a “vilde chaya.” Yet in Sendak’s world, being a vilde chaya meant being imaginative, adventurous and free.

What Should A Children’s Book Be?

Photo taken by Jenn Dechtman inside the Denver Art Museum Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak Exhibit, Framed image: Maurice Sendak, Pierre, 1961-2, ink on paper, 4 ¼ x 3 1/2 in. ©The Maurice Sendak Foundation.

Another gem that stuck with me was a recorded description about Sendak’s philosophy on the purpose of children’s book.  His friend and Author Dave Eggars says in the recording that Sendak hated the thinking that kids books are there to teach a lesson. He said Sendak believed:

The purpose of art and books is not to come away with a  message – it is to enjoy the story – to experience some other world – to be transported. is what Maurice preached every time we saw him.

This exhibit seems to do exactly that – transport us to another world of fantasy and adventure. The exhibit itseelf is an invitation to dream and explore. There are specially designed places to read a book, write down fantasies and thoughts, and many opportunities to look up at big Wild Things and smile!

While Sendak’s books are not intended to teach children a lesson, the curator of the exhibit and Director of the Denver Art Museum, Christoph Heinrich, remarks that for adult readers:

they also become artful poems, reflecting on the big open questions of our human existence: love, life, the yearning for a soulmate, the burning urge to overcome violence and tyranny, and the dream of a better place somewhere out there. – Denver Art Museum Member Newsletter, September/October, 2024

Art Exhibit Has its Own Theatrical Production

In keeping with Sendak’s philosophy to transport visitors to a fun adventure, the museum created a companion live theatrical show called Art Emergency: Sendak Edition. It is a 30 minute fun, silly, interactive play performed in the Sharp Auditorium of the DAM’s Hamilton Building. Click here for showtimes and tickets.  (Tickets to the show do not include admission to the exhbit).

At the pre-opening festivities, Stefania Van Dyke, Associate Director, Interpretive Engagement, said student groups will also get to enjoy the show. Van Dyke has dedicated the past two years to bringing this exhibit to life and making sure it is interactive and extraordinarily impactful.

The Story Behind the Show

Photo by Jenn Dechtman: Exhibit opening remarks by Director Christoph Heinrich

Co-organized by the Denver Art Museum and the Columbus Museum of Art in partnership with The Maurice Sendak Foundation. It is curated by Jonathan Weinberg, PhD, Curator and Director of Research at The Maurice Sendak Foundation, and Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum.

Weinberg who is in Denver for the opening, explains how the exhibit came to be:

The story behind the show was that originally we put together a retrospective with the Columbus Museum of Art, and Christoph came to see it, and he was so amazed by it, and that that was our fantasy behind the show in a way, that different people would see it in a way they would take Maurice’s art and take it to another level, take it to some other place…and that’s exactly what Christoph did. He reimagined the show and made it 50% bigger. This is the dream. This show is so expansive, so extraordinary that we are still taking it in.

Joining Weinberg was Lynn Caponera, the President of the Maurice Sendak Foundation and Maurice Sendak’s caretaker for over 30 years. Having been so close to Sendak for decades, Caponera described him as a generous, sweet empathetic man with puppies.

Photo by Jenn Dechtman: Exhbiit opening remarks by Jonathan Weinberg and Lynn Caponera, the Maurice Sendak Foundation.

Every Book of Wild Things: A Perfected Masterpiece

Caponera described Sendak as a perfectionist that insisted on everything being at the highest standard it could possibly be.  Interestingly, both Caponera and Weinberg touched on the perfectionist behavior. Weinberg recalled,

He wanted to make sure that every child who had his book was in possession of a true masterpiece.

The folks from HarperCollins Publishers who were in town for the opening concurred. Undoubtedly, Sendak would be pleased with the perfectionism of how this exhibit was implemented and brought to public eye. Big shout out also to the DAM designer Tom Fricker.

Photo by Jenn Dechtman of the Denver Art Museum Wild Things; The Art of Maurice Sendak exhibit

Perfect for Denver Holiday Fun at The Denver Art Museum

This is an exhibit well worth putting on your holiday schedule. The content and design is enriching and fun for all ages. In addition and on point with the holiday spirit is a whole section of the exhibiit dedicated to Sadek’s contributions to the movie Nutcracker.  Preceding the Nutcracker section is an extraordinary room on Mozart and the special influence Mozart’s Magic Flute had on Sandek.

Also as the present giving season comes upon us, be sure to peruse the gift shop at the end of the exhibiit!  The merchandise is truly special. Adorable knitted hats, plush toys, stunning art prints, books, whimsical writing tools and fun home decor all make great gifts.

If You Go To The Art Exhibit

The exhibit starts October 13th and is here through February. Tickets available through the Denver Art Museum. For museum members, tickets are only $5.

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