With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Maurice Sendak
Illustration, Children's Literature
1928 – 2012
- Biography/Description of Work
Sendak was often sick as a child and started to draw to pass his time by. During high school, he worked for All-American Comics and after his graduation he published some of his illustrations in Atomics for the Millions. In 1948 he began working at the toy store, F. A. O. Schwartz, as a window designer, for four years while taking night classes at the Art Students League. During that time he met book editor Ursula Nordstrom, and with her help was able to acquire illustrating jobs for such children’s book authors as Ruth Krauss, Else Holmelund Minarik, and Marcel Ayme. After some successful illustrating jobs, he left the toy store to freelance as an illustrator. During the 1950s, Sendak illustrated more than 50 books by other children’s book authors before writing and illustrating his own book. In 1956, Kenny’s Window, the first children’s book he wrote and illustrated himself was published. One of his best known books, “Where the Wild Things Are,” was published in 1963, and earned him a Caldecott Award. Throughout his life, he produced more than 50 books, and illustrated more than 50 by other writers including Herman Melville, Isaac Bashevis Singer, the Brothers Grimm, and the poet Randall Jarrel. In the late 1970s, he began a new career in the design of opera sets and costumes. Sendak lived in the Rowayton area of Norwalk and moved to the Ridgebury section of Ridgefield in 1972 until his death.
- Sources view
- Rachel Carley, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Sendak, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/books/maurice-sendak-childrens-author-dies-at-83.html, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/maurice-sendak/about-maurice-sendak/701/, http://www.rosenbach.org/maurice-sendak-biography-and-timeline, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0784124/, http://jackfsanders.tripod.com/S-Z.htm
Maurice Sendak Article - New York Times - 1970-2-15, Maurice Sendak Article - New York Times - 1973-1-5, Maurice Sendak Article - New York Times - 1980-10-12, Maurice Sendak Article - New York Times - 1987-11-8, Maurice Sendak Article - New York Times - 1991-11-15, Maurice Sendak Article - New York Times - 1993-9-20 - Associated Resource(s)