ExhibitionsThe Pursuit of Everything: Maira Kalman’s Books for Children
Past Exhibition

The Pursuit of Everything: Maira Kalman’s Books for Children

June 22 – September 15, 2019

The High Museum of Art will premiere this colorful exhibition exploring the extensive catalog of Maira Kalman’s imaginative stories and illustrations, which have delighted readers of all ages for more than 30 years.

Perhaps best known for her quirky New Yorker magazine covers and brilliant pictorial essays, Kalman (American, born 1949) has published more than a dozen books for adults and 18 acclaimed children’s books, beginning with the game-changing picture book Stay Up Late (1985), which gave visual form to the popular Talking Heads song from their Little Creatures album.

Since then, her works have followed the comic adventures of multiple beloved characters, including a dog poet named Max Stravinsky, and have addressed important historical people and events with books including Looking at Lincoln (2012) and the 9/11-inspired Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey (2002). 

The Pursuit of Everything will provide an immersive panorama of Kalman’s picture book career spanning three decades, including newer publications like Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote (2018), authored by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and the illustrated cookbook Cake (2018), written in collaboration with the food writer Barbara Scott-Goodman.

This exhibition marks the High’s fourth collaboration with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and is presented in conjunction with Max Makes a Million, a world premiere play based on Kalman’s work by the Alliance Theatre.

“Don’t you want to make him stay up late?”

“Don’t you want to make him stay up late?”
Illustration for Stay Up Late, from a song by David Byrne, Viking Penguin Inc., 1987
Gouache, pen and ink, and colored pencil on paperWhen David Byrne, the lead singer of the rock group Talking Heads, became a client of Maira’s husband, Tibor Kalman, at M&Co, Tibor suggested that she design the cover for the band’s album Little Creatures (1985). That job launched her career in picture books! In 1986, she collaborated with Byrne, illustrating the lyrics of his song Stay Up Late as a children’s book.

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“When I was seven and sitting in a tree in Henry Hudson Park behind our house, I felt that someday I would make up stories.”

“When I was seven and sitting in a tree in Henry Hudson Park behind our house, I felt that someday I would make up stories.”
Illustration for Chicken Soup, Boots, Viking, 1993
Gouache on paper“When I was seven sitting in a tree in Henry Hudson Park behind our house, I felt that someday I would make up stories. I would be a writer,” wrote Maira Kalman in Chicken Soup, Boots, a book that explores the age-old question “What will you be when you grow up?” The last page of the book shows Maira daydreaming at her desk and illustrates the job of a writer. Maira Kalman always grounds her stories and illustrations in the personal—what happens to her and her family, their pets, what she observes, and what she collects.

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“Ride I did, right into the inner chamber of the outer belly button of the sacred temple.”

“Ride I did, right into the inner chamber of the outer belly button of the sacred temple.”
Illustration for Swami on Rye: Max in India, Viking, 1995
Gouache on paperIn Swami on Rye, Max has learned he’s going to be a father. His wife, Crêpes Suzette, is pregnant. Max is worried—will he be a good parent? In this adventure-filled tale, a genie sends Max on a magic carpet ride to India to find the meaning of life.

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Next Stop, Grand Central

Cover illustration for Next Stop, Grand Central, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1999
Gouache on paperIn the fall of 1997, thousands of lucky commuters got to walk through Maira’s version of Grand Central Terminal in New York City when she was commissioned to create six paintings to cover scaffolding during a major renovation. Reproductions of those murals are on view in this gallery. The paintings grew into a book: Next Stop, Grand Central (1999).

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“S: He ate Mookie’s stinky sneaker for breakfast.”

“S: He ate Mookie’s stinky sneaker for breakfast.”
Illustration for What Pete Ate from A–Z (Really!), G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001
Gouache on paperIn real life, Pete was the Kalman family’s beloved dog, a Wheaten Terrier and an incorrigible omnivore. Maira started keeping a list of what he consumed, and it grew into the alphabet book What Pete Ate from A–Z (Really!).

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“The dog and the goat drive back home in the convertible in a state of great excitement.”

“The dog and the goat drive back home in the convertible in a state of great excitement.”
Illustration for 13 Words, by Lemony Snicket, HarperCollins, 2010
Gouache on paperMaira finds great success in her collaborations with other writers and artists. You will learn about her partnership with author Daniel Handler (also known as Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events).Her friendship with Daniel Handler started when they met at a dinner in Italy. Handler wanted to meet Maira so badly that he made sure they were seated next to one another. He and Maira have collaborated on five books, including 13 Words. He neatly sums up the quality their work shares: “a soft spot for where suffering and sadness meet the ridiculous.”

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“He had a family that he loved very much.”

“He had a family that he loved very much.”
Illustration for Looking at Lincoln, Nancy Paulsen Books, 2012
Gouache on paperMaira’s love of family and play is evident in the delightful image of the Lincoln family at the dinner table. It looks like they are getting ready for dessert. Can you find the two cakes? What other fun details can you find?

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“Your Anchor.”

“Your Anchor.”
Illustration for Beloved Dog, Penguin Press, 2015
Gouache on paperSince dogs terrified her mother, it seems odd that Maira has them on the brain, yet they appear in every one of her books. The blue-shoe-sporting Bulldog in Your Anchor was the October 7, 2013, cover for The New Yorker magazine. Beloved Dog is a compilation of Maira’s favorite canines, including, of course, her alter ego Max the poet.

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“The Ninth Birthday”

“The Ninth Birthday”
Illustration for Cake, with recipes by Barbara Scott-Goodman, Penguin Press, 2018
Gouache on paperMaira has a sweet tooth. From Mary Todd Lincoln’s favorite cake to her own ninth birthday cake (mocha cream from Mother’s Bakery down the street from her New York City home), she admires, enjoys, and even dreams of cake. Her advice on the subject: “Things are much nicer with cake. Bring on the cake. We really want to live.”

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Inez Milholland, 1886–1916: Your Voice Matters

Inez Milholland, 1886–1916: Your Voice Matters
Illustration for Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote, written by Kirsten Gillibrand, Alfred A. Knopf, 2018
Gouache on paperMaira painted Inez Milholland riding a white horse and wearing a gold crown and white cape. Milholland was a lawyer who worked for the rights of workers. In 1913 there was a parade in Washington, DC, to support a woman’s right to vote, and Inez led the parade on horseback. Why do you think she decided to wear a gold crown with a star?

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Sojourner Truth, c. 1797–1883: Speak the Truth

Sojourner Truth, c. 1797–1883: Speak the Truth
Illustration for Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote, by Kirsten Gillibrand, Alfred A. Knopf, 2018
Gouache on paperIn Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Maira Kalman’s book Bold & Brave, they introduce young readers to central figures of the woman’s suffragist movement in the United States. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York, became a free woman in 1826, and fought for equality for the rest of her life. What can we learn about her from Maira’s painting?

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Max

Max
Sketch for Ooh-la-la (Max in Love), Viking, 1991
Gouache on paperMax Stravinsky is Maira Kalman’s alter ego, an artist, a poet, and a traveler. Maira describes him: “A bit of my husband, Tibor, but more than a bit of me. A wanderer, observing the absurd. Sometimes innocent and yearning. Sometimes downcast and confused. Well, isn’t that everybody. Max mirrored my life, the trips and funny distractions and observations. The essentialness of it all.”

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The best children’s books are as appealing to adults as they are to children.

Maira Kalman

Meet Maira Kalman

Maira Kalman seated with her dog Pete.

Meet Maira Kalman! She was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1949. When she was just four years old, her family moved to the Bronx, New York. Her books are grounded in her life experience: she finds inspiration in family stories and folds them into her work. Maira is a visual storyteller who uses beautifully crafted paintings and fun wordplay to create magical books for both children and adults. For her, the two work together and are of equal importance: the narrative word and the narrative image.

The Pursuit of Everything: Maira Kalman’s Books for Children is organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst Massachusetts.
Support for the High Museum’s presentation is provided by the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation.
This exhibition is made possible by

Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor

Exhibition Series Sponsors

Premier Exhibition Series Supporters

The Antinori Foundation
Sarah and Jim Kennedy
Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot

Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporter

Anne Cox Chambers Foundation

Ambassador Exhibition Supporters

Tom and Susan Wardell
Rod Westmoreland

Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters

Marcia and John Donnell
W. Daniel Ebersole and Sarah Eby-Ebersole
Peggy Foreman
Robin and Hilton Howell
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones
Joel Knox and Joan Marmo
Margot and Danny McCaul
The Ron and Lisa Brill Family Charitable Trust

2019 Grandparents Circle of Support

Spring and Tom Asher
Anne Cox Chambers
Ann and Tom Cousins
Sandra and John Glover
Shearon and Taylor Glover
Sarah and Jim Kennedy
Jane and Hicks Lanier
Additional support provided byLavona CurrieNena GriffithEllen and Tom HarbinMargaretta Taylor

Generous support is also provided by

The Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, Isobel Anne Fraser–Nancy Fraser Parker Exhibition Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, and the RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund.