Collection: Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak

Denver Art Museum

October 13, 2024–February 17, 2025

Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak presents more than 450 artworks created by Maurice Sendak. One of the most versatile artists of the twentieth century, Sendak is best known for picture books, especially the award-winning titles Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and Nutshell Library. He also designed theater sets and collaborated on films.

Wild Things is named after Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, the beloved children’s book he authored in 1963 that became a cultural touchstone. The exhibition's title signals to all the beauty, whimsy, and mischief that his art inspired over his 65-year career. Visitors will see unique examples of Sendak’s timeless art, such as the final artworks for Where the Wild Things Are, and get a sense of his extraordinary skill and his deep understanding of the process of creating picture books and designs for the stage, television, and film productions. The show will include a wide array of drawings, paintings, posters, and mockups for books. It will also include set designs for the Where the Wild Things Are opera and the costumes for the live-action, feature-length film.

Alongside Sendak’s work, Wild Things will showcase works by other artists that Sendak collected throughout his life, tracing the origins of his creativity to William Blake, Winsor McCay, Beatrix Potter, George Stubbs, and Walt Disney. Sendak’s collaborations with distinguished directors, composers, writers, and choreographers such as Carroll Ballard, Frank Corsaro, Carole King, Spike Jonze, Tony Kushner, among many others, are also illuminated throughout the exhibition.