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MAY 2005

Wild Sendak Show at the Jewish Museum
By Jan Aaron

"We call it Max's Room," said Claudia Nahson, associate curator at the Jewish Museum, as she put the finishing touches on an enchanting alcove at "Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak," at the museum until August 24. The little room inspired by the imaginary bedroom in " Where The Wild Things Are," is decked out with a forest, stars and moon, pillows a shaggy rug and many Sendak books to look through. It's one stop on the museum's fascinating family friendly show which aims to capture the artist's vibrant and varied career.

Indeed, it's the largest exhibit of Sendak's work in over a decade and one of the largest ever mounted. An astonishing 12-foot-high figure of Max in his wolf suit is first to greet the visitor's eye in this exploration of Sendak's art created over 50 years, as well his inspirations: psychological, historic, cultural, cinematic and operatic.

Original drawings, happy, sad and introspective are on display as are preliminary sketches, artwork for posters, theater and opera sets, and costumes created from Sendak designs. Excellent wall texts and videos show more of his art and explain his widely diverse influences, which include Blake, Mozart, Mickey Mouse, Laurel and Hardy, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Art Spiegelman's "Maus," and the Holocaust.

Interpreting Sendak's art through his Jewish identity, the show is divided into three sections. "The Old Country, Looking at America from a Brooklyn Window," pays tribute to his Eastern European roots. Here, you find the intricate drawings for Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Zlateh the Goat" and for "In Grandpa's House" a memoir by Sendak's father. Elsewhere drawings describe the 77-year old Sendak's childhood fears. He was even frightened of his family whom he turned into fantastic monsters in "Wild Things." Another section "Into the Woods of Connecticut, Into the Land of Grimm" deals with Sendak's rural move when his work grows darker and he deals with the Holocaust.

The final section is devoted to his stage settings for "Brundibar", the 1938 opera by Hans Krasa, a Czech-Jewish composer, which is renowned as a work performed by children at the Terezin concentration camp. The museum plans "Family Day: A Sendak Spectacular" on May 22. (1109 Fifth Avenue, 212-423-3200).#

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