Christie’s sale Maurice Sendak: Artist, Collector, Connoisseur totalled $4,872,494 in New York, held to mark the 97th anniversary of the picture-book artist’s birth. The auction was 124 percent sold against low estimate by hammer and buyer’s premium, and 83 percent sold by lot. Almost one in five buyers and bidders was new to Christie’s.
Proceeds from the sale series support the Sendak Fellowship, a residency program run by The Maurice Sendak Foundation, a nonprofit that encourages and supports artists who tell stories through illustration.
Sendak referred to the artist and poet William Blake as his teacher in all things, and the top three lots were all works by Blake. A copy of Songs of Experience printed by the artist brought $1,865,000, almost twice its low estimate; a copy of Songs of Innocence printed by the artist made $1,260,000; and a colour-printed relief etching finished by Blake, depicting a scene from The First Book of Urizen, realised $176,400.
Works by Sendak himself drew competitive bidding. A pencil and watercolour study for Sendak in Philadelphia fetched $52,920, and a Really Rosie poster design brought $30,240. A Mickey and Minnie Mouse motorcycle toy realised $119,700, and a watercolour study for the cover of The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg made $94,500.
The Sendak series continues with the online sale Maurice Sendak: Artist, Collector, Connoisseur Online, which closes 12 June. Ahead of the live auction, Christie’s and the New York Public Library sponsored a reading of Sendak works at FAO Schwarz, where Sendak once designed windows, and the office of the Manhattan Borough President issued a proclamation declaring 10 June 2025 Maurice Sendak Appreciation Day.
(Press Release)
