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

This catalogue reveals the breadth of Maurice Sendak's visual work for opera and ballet and highlights his keen sense of humor, his love of art history, and his ability to tell striking stories through his art.

Maurice Sendak is well-known for his acclaimed children's books, but he was also an avid music lover and designed a number of opera and ballet productions, among them Mozart's Magic Flute, Janácek's Cunning Little Vixen, Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, and an opera composed by Oliver Knussen based on Where the Wild Things Are.

This book brings together nearly one hundred and fifty drawings from among the more than nine hundred of Sendak’s works in the Morgan Library & Museum's collection, including preliminary sketches, storyboards, finished watercolors, and painted dioramas. Essays by Rachel Federman, Liam Doona, Christopher Mattaliano, and Avi Steinberg discuss the importance of music and movement to Sendak, the artworks that inspired his stage designs, and the historical and biographical contexts that formed them.

Published by the Morgan Library & Museum and DelMonico Books ⬝ Prestel

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