COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — For over 60 years, Dr. Seuss has captured the hearts of young readers through classics like “The Cat in the Hat” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
And now, you have a chance to enjoy his artistic talent — off of the printed page.
From “Green Eggs and Ham,” to “The Sneetches,” to “Horton Hears A Who,” visitors can get an up-close look at the paintings, illustrations, and sculptures that Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, left behind.
“It’s funny because they’re familiar paintings, or familiar images, but — there’s some unusual ones mixed in,” says owner of the Rob Shaw Gallery, Rob Shaw.
“The Art of Dr. Seuss” collection is made up of over 60 pieces — loaned out by the Ann Jackson Gallery in Georgia.
Visitors can explore decades of his artwork — including what’s known as “The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss” — pieces he quietly created at night for his own enjoyment — now released by his estate for public viewing.
“I think the cool thing about the secret art collection is that’s probably his true interest, the stuff he really wanted to do, and he just did it for himself. I think when artists do things for themselves that’s always their best work,” says Shaw, adding, “and I think those are the ones people are gonna be most surprised by.”
Dr. Seuss often drew himself as a cat in his secret paintings — the cat witnessing the action he created, and witnessing the viewer. Incomplete works are also on display, says Shaw.
“Some of the coolest ones are the illustrations where it shows Dr. Seuss’ original sketch along with the final illustration of the book, and I think those are really neat. Because you get to see the artist’s intent or the artist’s thought process,” he says.
The gallery, located at 2123 Park Street in Columbia is free to the public — and each piece is on sale.
“You see an image and it takes you back to childhood, or you see a picture of a place and it takes you back to a place you visited, or even a person you knew, so art can go very deep with just a simple image,” says Shaw.
“The Art of Dr. Seuss” collection is available at The Rob Shaw Gallery through Sunday, October 26th.
