Sotheby’s will auction an original artwork created by Maurice Sendak for the first “New York is a Land of Books” promotional poster, with an estimate of $300,000-600,000.
This pen, ink and watercolor on paper depicts one of the American illustrator’s favorite “wildlife” characters, roughly the size of the Empire State Building, depicted leaning against the Empire State Building while enjoying an apple while reading Summer novels by lott brontë villette.
“When you think of Maurice Sendak and his legacy, the first thing that comes to your mind is where are the wild animals“, Sotheby’s books and manuscripts specialist Ella Hall tells us art news.
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This 27.5″ x 23.5″ signed work was produced for Fifth Avenue’s New York is a State of Books Street Festival, an annual event celebrating literature from 1979 to 2010. Other artists commissioned to design promotional posters included Charles Schulz, Richard Scarry and Keith Haring.
hall told art news She knew that “New York is a Land of Books” had been in the current owner’s collection for many years. “I’ve always loved it, so I’m excited for the opportunity to bring it to market,” she said.
In calculating the estimate, Hall and her colleagues considered existing auction records for similar works featuring “Wild Things” characters, the art’s large size, an iconic New York City building, and references to Sendak as a Recognition of one of them. The most important children’s book illustrator of the 20th century. “It had a huge impact on his market and our pricing,” she said.
The work was also loaned to the Society of Illustrators Memorial Hall for an exhibition held after Sendak’s death in 2013. “At the time, Abrams published a book to accompany the association’s exhibition, and this was actually the cover art for that book,” Hall said.
Sendak’s New York is a book town (1979) was acquired directly from the artist in 1996 and remained in a private collection for nearly thirty years.
“He made the painful decision that it was time to pass it on to the next collector who might appreciate it,” Hall told us. art news.
Sotheby’s expects the artwork to attract widespread attention, as the Denver Art Museum is currently hosting a retrospective that runs through February and the artist’s original works are on display at other institutions. “I think at this point you can really look at him as a great American artist,” Hall said.
There’s still a chance New York is a book town Due to the continued popularity of “Sendak,” a new auction record for an original work by Sendak may be set where are the wild animals. “This is comparable in many ways to the current record, and the market has been growing over the last decade or so since his death,” Hall said. “We’re really pleased and we think this could be an auction record for his work.”
The work will be sold on December 10 as part of Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts sale, which also includes first edition copies of Brontë’s works villette.
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