Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak's Designs for Opera and Ballet

Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) was born on June 10, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland; much of his extended family died in the Holocaust. Recognizing from a young age that he was gay and coming of age during World War II, he had an early awareness of his multifaceted identity. This experience formed his mission as a children’s author and illustrator: providing young readers with stories to help them negotiate their own complicated emotions as they grow up in an inevitably flawed world.

A largely self-taught artist, Sendak wrote and illustrated over one hundred-fifty books during his sixty-year career. His best-known works include Very Far Away, Nutshell Library (consisting of Chicken Soup with Rice, Alligators All Around, One Was Johnny, and Pierre), Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy, among many others.

He had been working in children’s literature for two decades when he was asked to design costumes and sets for a new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. A lifelong opera fan, Sendak leapt at the opportunity and said of his initiation into the world of stage design, “Fifty is a good time to either change careers or have a nervous breakdown.” He went on to design sets and costumes for multiple productions.

Maurice Sendak remains the most honored children’s book author and illustrator in U.S. history. He was the recipient of the 1964 Caldecott Medal, the 1971 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 1983 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the 2003 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. In 1996 President Bill Clinton presented him with the National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America.

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