Maurice Sendak: Wild Rumpus Stage Design, Glyndebourne

A Maurice Sendak set design offered yesterday at Heritage is based on his classic children's book Where the Wild Things Are. "Let the wild rumpus start!," as it is called, was created for the Glyndebourne Touring Opera's production. These are the Sendak characters collectors wants to see and own in his original work, although here they are looser and less detailed than they appear in his book illustrations.

Maurice Sendak
Heritage Auctions listing accessed November 5, 2023, eleven days before the auction

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/maurice-sendak-american-1928-2012-let-the-wild-rumpus-start-where-the-wild-things-are-glyndebourne-touring-opera/a/8145-67035.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

Bidding opened at $35,000, half the low estimate of $70,000. The piece was not sold at auction, but was made available for purchase at a fixed price of $87,500 after the sale. This cost is derived from the low estimate of $70,000 plus the 25% buyer's premium. Thus the reserve must have been set at the low estimate, the highest reserve permissible.

Note:  Readers waiting for my express permission to submit scans and photographs of original Maurice Sendak art to this blog may now consider themselves enabled to do so.

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Russell Patterson: Stage Design for Saturnalia?

Russell Patterson (1893-1977) was a cartoonist and illustrator who specialized in rendering the independent-minded and attractive women of the Jazz Age. He was famous for creating the Patterson Girl of the 1920s which did much to define the flapper. He also worked on set designs for Broadway. Patterson's "Suggestion for Production," apparently an unrealized one, is dominated by the ringed planet Saturn amidst stars and clouds. His scenic design incorporates dancers and their costumes as well. The original art was sold on Tuesday by Weiss Auctions.

The presale estimate was $200 to $400.

Even so, the stage design sold for an anemic $120 plus the 18% premium. All bidding was from the floor.

Russel Patterson
Weiss Auctions

https://weissauctions.nextlot.com/auctions/1497215/lots/22686896

Note:  It occurs to me that I don't have much original art by Russell Patterson on the blog and that this scenic design is anything but a typical example of it. Enterprising Patterson collectors are invited to help me out by submitting scans or photos of his artwork for potential inclusion in future posts.

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Ludwig Bemelmans Stage Designs

Two mixed media works by author and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962), of Madeline fame, just came up at auction last month. Coral Gables Auction has very little information about them. They are to all appearances stage designs, but for what production? Could they be for "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep," Bemelmans's 1950 play at the Broadhurst Theatre adapted from his own 1943 novel? The vaulted ceiling and other medieval elements could conceivably belong to the church on the book's cover. Or might these two set designs relate instead to something else, perhaps a stage play based on the Madeline books? The scenic designs were sold as two separate lots.

Lot 15:

Ludwig Bemelmans's signature

Ludwig Bemelmans
Coral Gables Auction, February 27, 2022

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/123015202_ludwig-bemelmans-1898-1962-hungary

Lot 16:

Ludwig Bemelmans's signature

Ludwig Bemelmans
Coral Gables Auction, February 27, 2022

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/123015203_ludwig-bemelmans-1898-1962-hungary

Pre-sale bidding accessed February 27, 2022

Ludwig Bemelmans
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (1943)

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31028968313&searchurl=x%3D92%26y%3D5%26bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26bx%3Doff%26sortby%3D1%26tn%3DNow%2BI%2BLay%2BMe%2BDown%2BTo%2BSleep%26an%3DLudwig%2BBemelmans%26recentlyadded%3Dall&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image10

Ludwig Bemelmans
"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" (1950)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372844247518?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338722076&customid=&toolid=10050

Note:  Ignorance is not bliss. I would like to hear from anyone with more information about how, when, and where these scenic designs were used.

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Edward Gorey's Grand Curtain for Dracula

Edward Gorey took a playful delight in the macabre. A photograph of his Grand Curtain from "Dracula" signed by the artist was sold at Swann Galleries in May. (Would someone please tell Swann that "Dracula" wasn't a musical?) Actor Jeremy Brett, who starred in Edward Gorey's "Dracula" from 1978 to 1979, complicates matters by posting a photo of the stage curtain which shows the design in reverse. To my eye, the orientation in the photo signed by Gorey is correct.

Swann Galleries, May 7, 2014, Sale 2349, Lot 286

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2349+++++286+&refno=++684741&saletype=

Jeremy Brett's photo of the stage curtain

http://sillygirlblue1.livejournal.com/pics/catalog/347/41920

Note:  Not to worry! More posts about Edward Gorey's art may be found all over this blog.

Save some time for the Halloween posts as well.

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