Maurice Sendak: Mother Goose, Max, and Moose

Bonhams has a very nice selection of Maurice Sendak works coming up in its December 15 Fine Books and Manuscripts auction in New York. There is a printed serigraph, an early autograph letter with an original illustration, and, of course, pencil drawings including Max, a few Wild Things, assorted rabbits, and--the wait is over!-- moose.

Bonhams Sale 19427 - Fine Books and Manuscripts, 15 Dec 2011
New York

Lot No: 5140

SENDAK, MAURICE, CHRIS VAN ALLSBERG, BARRY MOSER, et al.

Mother Goose Collection. New York: Serigrafia, 1990.

Suite of 6 color serigraphs on Rives BFK, approximately 560 x 725 mm each, individually signed and numbered by the artists. Original cloth-backed clam-shell portfolio with printed contents and colophon on the inside lid.

Provenance: Maurice Sendak.

LIMITED EDITION, no 107 of 300 copies issued to benefit the Children's Health Fund. Comprising: "Mother Goose" (M. Sendak); "Around the Green Gravel" (C. Van Allsberg); "The Queen of Hearts" (B. Moser); "The Kilkenny Cats" (Seymour Chwast); "Cat and the Fiddle" (Daniel Pelavin); and "Children on the Ice" (Guy Billout).


Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000
December 15, 2011:  Unsold

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5181028

Lot No: 5141

SENDAK, MAURICE. BORN 1928.

Pen and watercolor illustration on an Autograph Letter Signed ("M. Sendak"), November 18, 1962, to Lyn, being a self-portrait of Sendak with his dog, fold creases, light edgewear.

 Sendak writes this charming letter to a friend and draws "a picture of (himself) after reading (Lyn's) letter," in the likeness of his character Pierre, accompanied by his dog Jennie. Sendak mentions the drawing in his postscript: "Tho I look 6 1/2 I am really 34!"


Estimate: US$700 - 900

December 15, 2011:  Sold for US$4,000 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5151143

Lot No: 5142

SENDAK, MAURICE. BORN 1928.

"Six and Seven," pencil drawing, 217 x 280 mm, signed lower right, preliminary sketches for the Seven Little Monsters television series, matted and framed.

In the 2000-2003 animated television series Seven Little Monsters, Six is the resident ballerina who wears a tutu and carries a wand while Seven is the youngest and the tallest of the group. The final version of Six was much younger and more feminine than this version.

Estimate: US$2,500 - 3,500 
December 15, 2011:  Unsold

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5186482

November 24, 2011 Update:  "Six and Seven" is being offered again at Bonhams New York in its December 4 Fine Books, Maps & Manuscripts sale. The estimate has been reduced to $1,500 - 2,000.

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20078/lot/2167/?search_query=1&division=None&passages=True&earliest_first=False&country=None&past_sales=future&back_to_year=2003&sale_no=None&top_level_department=None&department=None&query=Sendak&create_facets=True&value_data_curren

 Lot No: 5143

SENDAK, MAURICE. BORN 1928.

"Moose," pencil drawing, 217 x 280 mm, signed at lower right and additionally inscribed at upper right: "Moose--May 1, 2000 / M.S. / 1 + 2"," matted and framed.

Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000
December 15, 2011:  Unsold

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5186481

 Lot No: 5144

SENDAK, MAURICE. BORN 1928.

"Tzippy," pencil sketch on vellum tracing paper, 190 x 150 mm, signed lower right.

A Wild Thing engaged in rumpus. Sendak named the Wild Things after his uncles and aunts: Tzippy, Moishe, Aaron, Emile and Bernard.

Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000 
December 15, 2011:  Unsold

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5186477

Lot No: 5145

SENDAK, MAURICE. BORN 1928.

Pencil sketch of two rabbits on vellum tracing paper, 100 x 280 mm, signed lower left, upper and left margins trimmed unevenly, sketch on verso of sheet, signature on recto.

Possibly relates to the little-known Sendak title, Ten Little Rabbits.

Estimate: US$1,500 - 2,000 
December 15, 2011:  Unsold

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5186471

 Lot No: 5146

SENDAK, MAURICE. BORN 1928.

Max and three Wild Things, pencil sketch on vellum tracing paper, 245 x 180 mm, signed lower right, right margin trimmed unevenly.

The sketches are executed on the verso and the signature is on the recto of this leaf. A desirable sketch of Sendak's most famous creations in motion, being Max, Moishe, Tzippy and Bernard.

Estimate: US$3,000 - 5,000 
December 15, 2011:  Unsold

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5186479

Lot No: 5147

SENDAK, MAURICE. BORN 1928.

Max in his wolf suit, pencil sketch on vellum tracing paper, 215 x 165 mm, signed lower right, left margin trimmed unevenly.

Charming sketch of Max making mischief "of one kind or another."

Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000 
December 15, 2011:  Unsold

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=LotDetailsNoFlash&iSaleNo=19427&iSaleItemNo=5186478

Maurice Sendak, Letter (Detail)

Maurice Sendak, "Six and Seven"

Maurice Sendak, Max in his Wolf Suit

Note:  My most recent post on the Wild Thing parade balloon art of Maurice Sendak is here. 

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Max in his Sailboat

In 2010, Bloomsbury Auctions sold this classic pencil rendering by Maurice Sendak of "Max in his Sailboat" from the Where the Wild Things Are themed area of the Sony Metreon building. I would assume that most collectors of Sendak's art are generally happy to see him return to the classic characters he created for this landmark book.

141. Sendak (Maurice) Max in his sailboat, original drawing for the ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ themed area of the Sony Metreon building, San Francisco, captioned by the artist, ‘Cocky, presumptious, intensely secure, he made the boat’, pencil drawing, 240 x 215mm., signed lower right, inscribed lower left, framed and glazed.
est. £3500 – £5000
Sold for £3400 Sale 714, 25th March 2010

http://www.bloomsburyauctions.com/detail/714/141.0

October 19, 2014 Update: Three years ago when I was new to blogging, I would link to wonderful images such as this one and assume they'd remain on the blog forever. The problem is that the internet can have a short memory. Eventually this image disappeared and had to be replaced with an inferior one. It took some time until I learned to keep my own copy of the art.

What's done is done, but if anyone kept my earlier high-resolution image, or Bloomsbury's, or if you own the art yourself, I'd love to be able to restore the better image. That goes for pretty much any image that appears on this blog:  if you've got a better one, I'm interested.

Note: My most recent post on the art of Maurice Sendak is here.

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