Maurice Bernard Sendak ( ; June 10, 1928 - May 8, 2012) is an American illustrator and author of children's books. He became widely known for his book Where Wild Things Are first published in 1963. Born to Polish Jewish parents, his childhood was influenced by the death of many members of his family during the Holocaust. Sendak also wrote works like In The Night Kitchen , Outside , and illustrated many works by other authors including the book Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik.
Video Maurice Sendak
Life and career
Early life
Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York to Polish immigrant Jewish parents named Sadie (nÃÆ' Â © e Schindler) and Philip Sendak, a clothing maker. Sendak describes his childhood as "a terrible situation" because of the death of a member of his extended family during the Holocaust which exposed him at a young age to the concept of death. Her love for books begins when, as a child, she develops health problems and is confined to her bed. He decided to become an illustrator after watching Walt Disney's Fantasia movie at the age of twelve. One of his first professional commissions was to make window displays for the FAO Schwarz toy store. The illustration was first published in 1947 in Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff's textbook titled Atomics for the Millions. He spent most of the 1950s describing children's books written by others before beginning to write his own story.
His brother, Jack Sendak, also became the author of children's books, two of which were illustrated by Maurice in the 1950s.
Maurice is the youngest of three siblings. Her sister Natalie is nine years older and her sister Jack is five.
Work
Sendak gained international recognition after writing and illustrated Where Wild Things Are , edited by Ursula Nordstrom at Harper & amp; Line. It features Max, a boy who is "angry with his mother for being sent to bed without dinner". The portrayal of the fanged monster book concerned some parents when it was first published, as the character was somewhat strange in appearance. Before Where is Wild Things Are , Sendak is famous for illustrating the book series Else Holmelund Minarik Little Bear .
Sendak then recounted a fan's reaction:
A little boy sent me a charming card with a small picture on it. I like it. I answered all my children's letters - sometimes in a hurry - but this one I am lingering. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I love your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and he said: "Jim really likes your card so he ate it." For me it is one of the highest praise I have ever received. He does not care that it is an original picture of Maurice Sendak or the like. He saw it, he liked it, he ate it.
Nearly fifty years later, the School Journal Library sponsored a survey of readers identifying Where Wild Things Are as the top picture book. The librarian who does so observes that there is little doubt what will be chosen as number one and highlights his appointment by a reader as a turning point, "ushering in modern-day picture books." Others call it "perfectly crafted, perfectly illustrated... just the symbol of a picture book" and noted that Sendak "rises above the rest partly because he is subversive".
When Sendak saw the script Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories , the first children's book by Isaac Bashevis Singer, at the editor's desk at Harper & Row, he offers to illustrate the book. It was first published in 1966 and received Newbery Honor. Sendak is very excited and enthusiastic about this collaboration. He once wistfully remarked that his parents were "finally" impressed by their youngest child when he collaborated with Singer.
His book In the Kitchen of the Night, originally published in 1970, is often the target of censorship for the image of a boy who pranced naked through the story. This book has been challenged in several American states including Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Texas. In the Kitchen Night regularly appears on the American Library Association's list of "frequently challenged and forbidden books". It listed number 21 on "100 Most-Challenged Books 1990-1999".
His 1981 book Outside Over There is a story about a girl, Ida, and her sister is jealous and responsible. Her father was away and Ida had to watch her sister, which made her worried. Her sister was kidnapped by goblins and Ida had to go with a magical adventure to save her. At first, she did not really want to get her sister and almost passed her brother when she became absorbed in the magic of search. In the end, he rescued his baby sister, destroyed the goblins, and returned home committed to caring for his sister until his father came home.
Sendak is an early member of the National Advisory Council of the Children's Television Workshop during the development stage of the Sesame Street television series. He also adapted his book Bumble Ardy to the animated sequence for the series, with Jim Henson as Bumble Ardy's voice. He writes and designs three other animated stories for the series: Seven Monsters (which never aired), Up & amp; Down , and Broom Adventures .
Sendak produces animated television production based on his work titled Really Rosie , featuring the voice of Carole King, which was broadcast in 1975 and available on video (usually as part of a video compilation of his work). Album songs are also produced. She contributed the opening segment for Simple Gifts, a Christmas collection of six animated shorts featured on PBS TV in 1977 and then released to VHS in 1993. She adapted her book Where the Wild Things Are to the stage in 1979. In addition, he designed a set for many operas and ballets, including the award-winning (1983) Pacific Northwest Ballet production of the Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker , the Houston Grand Opera from Mozart < i> The Magic Flute (1981) and Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel (1997), the 1990 production of Los Angeles County Music Center Mozart Idomeneo , and New York City Opera 1981 production of JanÃÆ'¡? Ek's The Cunning Little Vixen .
In the 1990s, Sendak approached playwright Tony Kushner to write a new English version of the opera Holocaust children of the Czech Republic's composer, Hans KrÃÆ'¡sa, BrundibÃÆ'¡r . Kushner wrote a text for a picture book of Sendak of the same name, published in 2003. The book was named one of the The New York Times Book Reviews ' s Best Picture Book 2003 .
In 2003, the Chicago Opera Theater resulted in the adaptation of Sendak and Kushner on BrundibÃÆ'¡r . In 2005, the Berkeley Repertory Theater, in collaboration with the Yale Repertory Theater and New Victory Theater on Broadway, produced a substantially reworked version of the Kushner-Sendis adaptation.
In 2004 Sendak worked with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra in Boston on their project Pincus and Pig: A Klezmer Tale. The Klezmer version of the famous musical Sergei Prokofiev for children, Peter and the Wolf features Maurice Sendak as the narrator. He also illustrated the cover art.
Sendak also created the children's television program Seven Little Monsters.
Personal life
Sendak mentions in a September 2008 article in The New York Times that he is gay and has lived with his counterpart, psychoanalyst Eugene Glynn (25 February 1926 - May 15, 2007), for 50 years before Glynn's death in May 2007. Revealing that he never told his parents, he said, "All I want is to be straight so that my parents can be happy, they never, never, never know." The connection of Sendak with Glynn has been mentioned by other previous authors (eg, Tony Kushner in 2003) and the death notice of Glynn 2007 has identified Sendak as his "fifty-year partner". After the death of his partner, Sendak donated $ 1 million to the Jewish Family and Children's Service Council to commemorate Glynn who has treated young people there. The prize will name the clinic for Glynn.
Sendak is an atheist. In a 2011 interview, he stated that he does not believe in God and explains that he feels that religion, and trust in God, "must make life easier [for some of his religious friends] more difficult for those of us who do not believe."
Influences
Maurice Sendak was inspired and influenced by a large number of painters, musicians and writers. Back to his childhood, one of the earliest influences he remembered was his father, Philip Sendak. According to Maurice, his father would tell stories from the Torah; However, she will embellish them with enthusiastic detail. Unaware that this is inappropriate for children, little Maurice is often sent home after recounting her father's "softcore Bible stories" at school.
Growing up, Sendak developed from other influences, beginning with Walt Disney Fantasia and Mickey Mouse. Sendak and Mickey Mouse were born in the same year and Sendak described Mickey as a source of fun and pleasure as he grew up. He has been quoted as saying, "My gods are Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Mozart, I believe in them with all my heart." After further explanation, he has explained that reading Emily Dickinson's works helps him stay calm in an otherwise bustling world: "And I have a tiny little Emily Dickinson that I carry in my pocket everywhere. I read Emily's three poems, she is very brave, she is very strong, she is a passionate little lady I feel better. "Likewise, about Mozart, she said," When Mozart played in my room I was with something that was not can I explain [...] I do not have to, I know that if there is a purpose for life, for me to hear Mozart. "
Ursula Nordstrom, director of the Harper Department of Books for Boys and Girls from 1940 to 1973, also became an inspiration for Sendak.
Death
Sendak died on May 8, 2012, at the age of 83, at Danbury, Connecticut, at Danbury Hospital, due to a stroke complication, less than a month before his 84th birthday. His body was cremated.
The New York Times mentions Sendak "the most important children's book artist of the 20th century." The author Neil Gaiman says, "He is unique, fierce, brilliant, wise, magical, and makes the world better by creating art in it." Author R. L. Stine called the death of Sendak as "a sad day in children's books and for the world."
Comedian Stephen Colbert, who interviewed Sendak in one of his last public appearances on his TV program The Colbert Report, says of the author: "We are all honored to have been briefly invited to his world." Sendak appearance on the January 2012 episode of The Colbert Report saw him teaching Colbert how to illustrate and give a book of descriptions for Colbert's own children's book, I Am a Pole (And So You You!) , and the day Sendak died was also the official release date of the book.
The 2012 season of Pacific Northwest Ballet's The Nutcracker , where Sendak designed the set, is dedicated to his memory.
On May 12, 2012, Nick Jr. held a two-hour marathon Little Bear in his memory. The author Else Holmelund Minarik will die alone only two months later on July 12, 2012, at the age of 91 years.
Her last book, Bumble-Ardy , was published eight months before her death. The posthumous posthumous book, titled My Brother's Book , was published in February 2013.
The movie Her is dedicated to her memory and Where Wild Things Are to James Gandolfini. The film is directed by Spike Jonze, which also directs the film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are.
Maps Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak Collection
In 1968 Sendak borrowed the Rosenbach Museum & amp; Libraries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, most of his works include nearly 10,000 works of art, manuscripts, books, and epemera. From May 6, 2008, until May 3, 2009, Rosenbach presented There is a Mystery There: Sendak in Sendak . The main retrospective of over 130 pieces drawn from Sendak Museum's extensive collection features original artwork, rare sketches, work materials never seen before, and exclusive interview footage.
Exhibit highlights include the following:
- Original color art works from books like Where Wild Things Are In The Kitchen Kitchen , The Nutshell Library Outside Over There , and Brundibar ; The book
- "Dummy" is filled with live scratch sketches for titles such as The Sign on Rosie Door , Pierre , and Higglety, Pigglety, Pop! ;
- Work materials never before seen, such as newspaper clips that inspired Sendak, family portraits, photo models of children and other imitations;
- Rare sketches for unpublished edition editions such as Tolkien The Hobbit and Henry James' The Turn of the Screw , and other illustrative projects;
- Unique material from the Rosenbach collection associated with Sendak's works, including the 1853 edition of Grimm Brothers stories, sketches by William Blake, and Herman Melville's bookshelf;
- The stories narrated by illustrators themselves on topics like Alice in Wonderland , his struggle to illustrate his favorite novel, the bizarre stories of Brooklyn, and how his work helped him expel childhood trauma.
Since these items have been lent to Rosenbach for decades, many in the museum world hope that Sendak material will remain there. But Mr. Sendak will mention that the pictures and most of the loans will remain belong to the Maurice Sendak Foundation. In 2014, representatives of the land withdrew the works, saying that they intend to follow Sendak's direction in his desire to create a "museum or similar facility" in Ridgefield, Conn., Where he lives, and where his foundation is based, "to used by scholars, students, artists, illustrators and writers, and opened to the general public "as the foundation directors see it.
Rosenbach filed an action in 2014 in a state court court in Connecticut, stating that the plantation has kept many rare books that Mr. Sendak has promised to the library in his will. In a court ruling in Connecticut, a judge presented most of the disputed collection of books to Sendak plantation, not to the museum.
Awards and honors
Internationally, Sendak received the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration in 1970, recognizing "a lasting contribution to children's literature". He received one of the first two Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards in 2003, recognizing his career contribution to "adult literature and children in a broad sense". The title calls him "the figure of a modern picture portal" and the presentation is credited where Wild Things Are with all revolves the whole story-book narrative... thematically, aesthetically, and psychologically. "In the US, he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from a professional children's librarian in 1983, which recognizes" substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature ". At that time it is given every three years. Only Sendak and author Katherine Paterson have won these three major awards.
- Caldecott's Medal from ALA as the illustrator of "America's most famous picture book for children", Where is Wild Things Are , 1964 (Sendak also one runner-up Caldecott seven times from 1954 to 1982, more than any other illustrator, though some have won many Medals)
- Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's book illustration, 1970
- National Book Award in the Picture Book category for Outside Over There , 1982
- Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for American children's literature, 1983
- National Medal of Arts, 1996
- Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's literature, 2003
- Honorary doctorate from Goucher College, 2004
- Inaugurated into the New York Writers Hall of Fame in 2013.
Sendak has two elementary schools named in his honor, one in North Hollywood, California, and PS 118 in Brooklyn, New York. He received an honorary doctorate from Princeton University in 1984.
Note
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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