DALLAS, TX.- For generations, the Caldecott Medal-winning Where the Wild Things Are has affirmed the wonder and loneliness inherent in the childhood experience and the singularity of Maurice Sendak's vision. Heritage Auctions celebrates the legacy of author and illustrator Sendak's iconic characters from that literary classic with an auction of 28 works highlighting the adventures of Max and the Wild Things and other Sendak favorites in its May 2 Illustration Art Signature® Auction.

Mounted upon the release of the 2008 Wild Things film adaptation by Spike Jonze, the Sendak in Soho show at New York's AFA Gallery was the first time this fantastic grouping of costume and set designs, poster art and the author's only bronze sculpture was unveiled to the public. An immense success, the exhibition's works went on to be featured in the traveling show Maurice Sendak: 50 Years, 50 Works, 50 Reasons. Opening at Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, California, the show traveled to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago and the Fort Worth Public Library among other institutions. Now Heritage offers a rare opportunity to own the featured artworks illustrating Sendak's magic with the capsule grouping 50 Years of Sendak: The Museum Tour Collection offered within the larger auction.

"This exhibit traveled all over the United States for over a decade then came directly to us," says Meagen McMillan, Heritage's Senior Specialist of Illustration Art. "It's one of the first times that people are able to acquire art directly from a museum exhibition. It is truly a rare opportunity."

In addition to Sendak's Wild Things, imagery from Sendak's take on The Nutcracker and his own In The Night Kitchen are on offer, as well as lithographs of iconic characters Really Rosie and the Night Kitchen Bakers. Sendak, who entered the world the same year as Mickey Mouse, created his take on the world's most famous mouse in an ultra-rare mixed media work along with a one-of-a-kind lot including three vintage toys from Sendak's own collection, including a tin Mickey Mouse Band drum adorned with the author's rendering of Mickey cavorting alongside Wild Thing Carol.

For McMillan, the most covetable item in the Sendak collection is his final original poster artwork for the John F. Kennedy Center's Imagination Celebration, rendered in watercolor and ink on paper in 1988. She says the piece is "an iconic, widely reproduced and beloved example of his poster work, which for decades encouraged childhood creativity and arts engagement, and is as significant part of his legacy as his Wild Things work."

Each of the author's beloved creations possesses multiple layers that have made his art the foundation of an imagination-filled childhood. "Sendak's work is also an intergenerational bridge," says McMillan. "My parents read Maurice Sendak, and I now read the books to my nieces and nephews. We'll always hold a cherished place in our lives for his stories, and this auction is a great opportunity for someone to have some truly outstanding pieces that will be loved just as much as his books."

Sendak's rare artworks are just the beginning of the significant illustrations offered by Heritage on May 2. The auction also features American artist Dean Cornwell's virtuosic illustration, from 1930, for the Rafael Sabatini serial Captain Blood. Featuring Blood and his men bringing freshly claimed bounty from a Spanish wreck to shore, the oil-on-canvas piece was originally created for the interior of Cosmopolitan magazine. Commanding in scale, it is a prime example from the Dean of Illustrators created at the peak of his talent, portraying the precursor of the American superhero.

Cornwell's heroic figures are juxtaposed with the simple laborers portrayed by Joseph Christian Leyendecker in his 1917 original painting for the poster titled Save Coal: Keep the War Fires Burning. Depicting three men performing the grueling yet vital work that powered wartime manufacturing, this oil-on-canvas piece recalls Leyendecker's Arrow Collar Man with a patriotic twist on the illustrator's signature subject.

"It's a really meaningful piece that broadens Leyendecker's ongoing interest in the ideal man to a statement of American purpose," says Sarahjane Blum, Heritage's Director of Illustration Art. "It's this picture of rugged American masculinity paired with a kind of relaxed intimacy that's just incredible. With this Leyendecker piece, we can recognize the fullness of what the artist was bringing to his work."

Perfectly timed for the New Yorker magazine's 100th birthday are featured covers and cartoons from artists Abner Dean and Charles Addams. Addams' "Golfer," from the May 23, 1988, issue, was the last of his New Yorker covers to run during his lifetime. Blending subtle references to the Addams Family's beloved Thing and the Arthurian legend of the Lady in the Lake, this watercolor-on-paper is a prime representation of the legendary illustrator's surrealistic, tongue-in-cheek sensibility.

Another beloved piece of Americana in the auction are a selection of Ralph William Williams' original illustrations of the Breck Girl. One of the signature advertising creations of the 20th century, this ever-evolving ideal of beauty and purity created to sell Breck Shampoo helped make stars of such models as the then-unknown Brooke Shields and Kim Basinger. Executed in soft, dreamy pastels, these pieces are true time capsules.

Heritage's Illustration Art events are often shaped by Pin-Up and Pulp Art, and here the genres make a welcome appearance. With examples ranging from the charming coquettes of Alberto Vargas and Henry Clive to mid-century beauties from Gil Elvgren and George Petty to the cooler, modernist charms captured by Patrick Nagel and Olivia De Berardinis, this collection of curvaceous figures encompasses the allure and magnetism inherent in the great American Pin-Up.

And serious collectors of fantasy art will recognize the cover of their final Tolkien calendar: Greg and Tim Hildebrandt's charming "Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe," published in 2006, which brings a scene from Middle Earth to life with a classic fantasy aesthetic. "Bathed in a poignant late-day glow, the piece captures a moment that both marks the beginning of a new adventure and symbolizes a younger generation embracing the mantle of responsibility for the future," says Blum.

Sci-fi and mythological scenes rendered by favorites Margaret Brundage, Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta round out the Pulp, Sci-Fi & Fantasy illustration offerings, and all told, the expansive selection of covetable works offered on May 2 encompasses the best of Illustration Art's genres and categories and celebrates the master artists who brought us the unforgettable imagery that resonates across generations.