Comtemporaty Jewish Museum exhibit explores Sendak’s ‘Wild Things’

October 30, 2009

Meghan Helms
Assistant A&E Editor

Maurice Sendak’s Wild Things and other creatures are having a “wild rumpus” in San Francisco with an exhibit and a movie premiere.The exhibit, “There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak,” showing at the Contemporary Jewish Museum until Jan. 9, features water colors, sketches, drawings and videos of Sendak and his art. The film,“Where The Wild Things Are,” opened in Bay Area theaters on Oct.16.

The final pen, ink and watercolor illustration for Where The Wild Things Are is on display at the Contemporary Jewish Museum (top) along with the final pen and ink drawing from Hector Protector, and As I Went Over the Water (above, left) and the color drawing for In the Night Kitchen. Photos: Contemporary Jewish Museum | with Permission

The exhibit focuses on Sendak’s life and the deeper meanings of his stories, pictures and influences that led to his creations.Born in 1928 to Polish immigrants, Sendak’s work reflects his upbringing in Brooklyn, N.Y., his Polish culture and Jewish heritage.

Images of poverty, allusions to kidnapping and references to the Holocaust are remnants from Sendak’s childhood and are part of the “other story” that lies beneath each of the words and pictures in his works.

An avid movie-goer and reader as a child, Sendak draws inspiration for his pictures and stories from popular childhood movie characters such as Laurel and Hardy, Mickey Mouse and King Kong, along with influences by artists Lewis Carroll and van Gogh. On the day of his bar mitzvah, Sendak learned of his grandfather’s death in the Holocaust, the first of many Holocaust-related deaths in his extended family still residing in Europe.

Sendak’s sense of a child’s vulnerabilities and emotional struggles, which are featured in some of his most popular characters, are part of the reason for Sendak’s widespread success. boy
Some of Sendak’s other works are based on family members and childhood experiences. The notorious, yet beloved, Wild Things are based on family members who visited when he was a child and ate all the food in the house.

Sendak’s theme of eating books and food throughout his works reflect his understanding of children, his youth and his love for the written word. As a child, he tells of biting into a shiny new book that his sister bought him.

A movie adaptation of the book, “Where The Wild Things Are,” is directed and written by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers with help from Sendak.

The film features Max Records as the mischievous and imaginative boy who turns his room in to a forest filled with Wild Things that Max rules as king.

For over 60 years Sendak has scandalized parents with his blunt and sometimes heavy stories, inspired children with his otherworldly and fantastic pictures and narratives while teaching kids how to count with a counting rhyme broadcast on Sesame Street.

Now 81 years old, Sendak’s work has been a part of America’s childhood since the publication of his first illustrated book in 1951.

The Contemporary Jewish Museum is located on 736 Mission Street and is open daily except Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The movie is playing at theaters such as the AMC Van Ness 14 on Van Ness, the CineArts at Sequia in Mill Valley and the Century 20 in Daly City.