WILLIAM BLAKE AND MAURICE SENDAK
Both of these artists were known for their greatness in both visual art and writing. There is an obvious aesthetic similarity. In fact, I would suspect that much of Sendak’s style was shaped by an early influence from Blake’s art. Most importantly for this comparison, both of these artists viewed themselves as spiritual guides and defenders with a great responsibility.
Blake used Christianity as the starting place to describe the complexities of the mind and allowed an increasingly scientific culture a familiar framework to begin to understand psychology.
Sendak, who was an atheist, saw himself as a defender of children against the confusion of adults. He described the untethered, violent, chaotic, creative, free aspects of the childhood mind and gave children permission to explore the inner location where those “wild things” reside. With love and care he gave room for that intense energy, but guided them through it with calm and love.