Drawing the Curtain

This book showcases a lesser-known aspect of Maurice Sendak’s oeuvre-his set designs for operas and ballets.

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 in the Morgan Library & Museum’s collection, including preliminary sketches, storyboards, finished watercolors, and painted dioramas. The essays 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. The book reveals the breadth of 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.