
A Parade, Restored: A Maurice Sendak Mural Goes From Bedroom To Gallery
A Parade, Restored: A Maurice Sendak Mural Goes From Bedroom To Gallery

The Chertoff mural, prior to conservation. Maurice Sendak, 1961 hide caption
It's not that unusual for kids to have murals painted on their walls.

A detail from the Chertoff mural, prior to conservation. Maurice Sendak, 1961 hide caption
But the mural that was painted on the wall in Larry and Nina Chertoff's childhood bedroom in Manhattan in 1961 was a little unusual. Showing a parade of children and animals, it was painted by family friend Maurice Sendak, the author and illustrator who, two years later, would publish the award-winning children's book Where The Wild Things Are.

A detail from the Chertoff mural, prior to conservation. Maurice Sendak, 1961 hide caption
A detail from the Chertoff mural, prior to conservation.
Maurice Sendak, 1961Now the Chertoffs have donated the mural to Philadelphia's Rosenbach Museum and Library, the home of the Maurice Sendak Gallery, where much of the writer's work is already housed. The museum has removed the mural from the apartment — right along with the wall beneath it — and has transported it back to Philadelphia. There, it's being restored for display.

A team of eight art handlers and conservators transported The Chertoff Mural from the truck into the Rosenbach Museum & Library's Maurice Sendak Gallery. Elyse Poinsett/Rosenbach Museum & Library hide caption
A team of eight art handlers and conservators transported The Chertoff Mural from the truck into the Rosenbach Museum & Library's Maurice Sendak Gallery.
Elyse Poinsett/Rosenbach Museum & LibraryOn today's All Things Considered, Sendak and Larry and Nina Chertoff all talk about the mural and its journey from bedroom to museum.