The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to the Present

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.