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1. HOW DO I PURCHASE DR. SEUSS ARTWORKS?
Chase Art Companies is the exclusive publisher for The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection. If you wish to find an Authorized Gallery or verify the status of a Gallery, please contact Chase Art Companies at info@chaseart.com. and include your name, city or zip code and phone number. You may also contact us at 847-564-2000 ext. 0 and provide the same information.
2. DID TED GEISEL (A.K.A. DR. SEUSS) WRITE AND ILLUSTRATE HIS BOOKS?
He wrote and illustrated 44 books for children under the name Dr. Seuss, and wrote additional books for children under the pen name, Theo LeSieg. In the introduction to Seuss’s 1987 retrospective exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art, Steven Brezzo, Director of the museum at the time wrote, “Why were these works so important to us? Perhaps because Dr. Seuss accepted for a fact our own youthful artistic openness. Every page was a new and stimulating visual adventure with an endless variety of amusing creatures and expressionistic sets. Like his stories, his text illustrations were a poke in the eye of literary and artistic convention.”
3. WHAT IS THE SECRET ART OF DR. SEUSS?
The Secret Art often shows a side of the artist that most readers, familiar with him through his classic children’s books, have never seen. These fantastical images have the inimitable style of Geisel’s alter ego, Dr. Seuss, frequently depicting outlandish creatures in otherworldly settings. The Seuss humor is also evident, as well as the insight that often gave his stories deeper meaning. However, these works break new ground, using a dazzling rainbow of hues not seen in the primary-color palette of Geisel’s books for children.
4. HOW DID THE ART OF DR. SEUSS COLLECTION COME TO FRUITION?
For over 60 years, Dr. Seuss’s illustrations brought a visual realization to his fantastic and imaginary worlds. However, his artistic talent went far beyond the printed page. Seuss always dreamed of sharing his artwork with his fans and had entrusted his wife, Audrey, to carry out his wishes once he was gone. Audrey, too, believed the work deserved further recognition and that Ted himself would someday be evaluated not only as an author, but as an artist in his own right.
In 1997, this dream was realized when The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection was launched. For the first time collectors were able to see and acquire fine art prints and sculpture reproduced from Geisel’s original drawings and paintings. In her introduction to the collection Audrey Geisel wrote, “I remember telling Ted that there would come a day when many of his paintings would be seen and he would thus share with his fans another facet of himself – his private self. That day has come. I am glad.”
This historic project has opened the world’s eyes to the unique artistic talent of Dr. Seuss and, as such, galleries, museums, and collectors have helped make Audrey Geisel’s promise, and Dr. Seuss’s dream, a reality.
5. WERE ANY DR. SEUSS FINE ART PRINTS OR SCULPTURES PUBLISHED DURING HIS LIFETIME?
No. All of the original works were created by Ted Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) during his lifetime, yet, despite the incredible demand for published Dr. Seuss artwork, no limited edition pieces were ever created until this historic collection began in 1997, six years after Ted Geisel’s death. All of these limited edition artworks are authorized by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. and were made posthumously.
6. ARE THESE WORKS SIGNED BY DR. SEUSS?
Nearly all of Dr. Seuss’s original artwork was signed by him over the approximately 60 years during which it was created. Because the reproductions included in The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection were created after his lifetime, each limited edition lithograph, serigraph, or pigment print bears an Authorized Printed Signature and each sculpture an Authorized Engraved Signature, identifying the work as an exclusively authorized limited edition commissioned by the Seuss Estate. (Works published in this manner are oftentimes referred to as estate or posthumous editions.)
7. DO THESE WORKS EXIST IN ANY OTHER FORM?
Yes, each work in the collection is reproduced from Dr. Seuss’s original drawings, paintings, or sculpture. In many cases the original works still exist and are archived in the Geisel Library at the University of California San Diego. Very few originals are known to have made it into the hands of private collectors, therefore the prints and sculptures included in this collection offer, in many cases, the only opportunity to collect these images. Theodor Geisel was granted the exclusive right to reproduce or distribute his images per United States copyright and trademark law. Upon his death, those exclusive rights passed to his wife, Audrey Geisel, and it was only with her permission that these works were licensed for reproduction as part of The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection. Although many of the images have appeared in Dr. Seuss books, advertisements, or political cartoons over the years, all of the works in The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection are created in an exclusive publishing arrangement with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, thereby assuring their authenticity and rarity. Some works may be created in more than one size and/or medium, but in each instance the materials utilized to create the works are destroyed upon completion of an edition.
8. IS THERE A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY ISSUED FOR THESE WORKS?
Yes, the publisher provides a comprehensive document giving prospective collectors specific information regarding the processes used to create each Dr. Seuss artwork. This document adheres to the highest standards of US print and sculpture disclosure law, including such information as to what the work is, how it was created, when it was made, the limits of the edition, and other pertinent information specific to each work. Your Authorized Gallery can show you this important document prior to purchasing a work, and will provide you the document when you receive your artwork, either in person or through shipping. It is vitally important that you acknowledge its receipt and properly secure each certificate. The Certificate of Authenticity should be managed with the same care as the ownership of the art itself.
9. ARE ALL WORKS IN THE COLLECTION CREATED IN LIMITED EDITIONS?
Yes, these works are created in rare, limited editions. Recent sales figures indicate that over 700 million Dr. Seuss books have been sold to date. The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection editions range in size based upon the category of artwork. For example, rare Concept Drawings and Secret Art editions can be as intimate as just 290 artworks total, while reproductions of final illustration pages can be just 2,760 per edition. These editions leave only a small fraction of Dr. Seuss fans the opportunity to collect these prints and sculptures.
10. WHAT DO THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE EDITION MEAN?
In fine art publishing an edition number represents the number of prints or sculptures made of that image, at that size and in that medium. Two numbers are written in a lower corner of a print or on the back or edge of a sculpture. The bottom number represents the total amount of pieces in that portion of that edition and the top number represents the place in the order of the edition that particular piece is.
a.) Arabic Numbers represent the main portion of the edition. Most collectors who acquire an artwork from The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection will receive an Arabic numbered piece.
b.) The Patron Program is designed to allow collectors the opportunity to acquire the same edition number for each Dr. Seuss release per calendar year. A separate portion of each edition is reserved for Patron Collectors, numbered I/XCIX – XCIX/XCIX [1-99]. A Patron Collector commits to acquiring all releases from a specific year for the collection.
c.) Similar to an Artist’s Proof (AP), the Collaborators’ Proof, or CP, was created in collaboration with the publisher and the Dr. Seuss Estate. This portion of the edition is reserved for special gallery exhibitions and is made available only after the Arabic edition has sold out.
d.) Hors d’Commerce are those pieces that are not available for sale. They are reserved for the publisher and The Dr. Seuss Estate.
11. HOW ARE ARTWORKS IN THE ART OF DR. SEUSS COLLECTION PRODUCED?
Several traditional and new contemporary artmaking techniques are used to faithfully reproduce Ted Geisel’s (a.k.a Dr. Seuss) original artworks. Below outlines the various methods used:
a.) Hand-Pulled Lithography
This intentionally “low-tech” method involves highly skilled artisans and master printers whose job it is to faithfully re-create Dr. Seuss’s original works by individually drawing and/or separating each color, then mixing and printing them one at a time via a plate or stone lithograph press. It can take up to three months to create each individual print utilizing this traditional printmaking method. The result is a beautifully created artwork, second only to the original itself.
b.) Hand-Pulled Serigraphy
Hand-pulled serigraphy is also known as silkscreen printing. This method gained prominence in the mid-1960s when artists such as Andy Warhol took notice of silkscreen’s potential for fine art printmaking and began utilizing it to create multiple layer graphics full of bright colors and crisp detail.
Like hand-pulled lithography, this intentionally “low-tech” method is usually carried out under the direction of a master printmaker who must carefully break down an original painting into its many colors, and then individually draw and/or separate, mix and print each color, one layer at a time. Many Art of Dr. Seuss Collection prints are so complex that it can take up to 70 individually printed colors to faithfully reproduce the original works.
c.) Archival Pigment Print
Some works in the collection employ more contemporary printmaking techniques not available to artists and printmakers of past generations. Archival Pigment Prints offer a wide range of color saturation, coupled with a delicate subtlety that lends itself well to certain works. Original works reproduced using this method capitalize on the brilliant fidelity of specially calibrated digital presses, coupled with inks and papers which were developed over many years and specifically designed for fine art printmaking. Just as silkscreen printmaking revolutionized the way artist and printmakers expressed themselves in the 1960s, so too has Archival Pigment Printmaking in the early 21st century.
d.) Mixed-Media Pigment Print
A Mixed-Media Pigment Print is created using an intricate combination of Archival Pigment Printmaking with fine art serigraphy. This complex process pulls together historic and contemporary printing techniques to capture the brilliant depth and vibrancy of certain original works. There are only a handful of fine art printmaking ateliers capable of the technical prowess needed to utilize both printmaking processes in a single reproduction.
e.) Cast Resin Sculptures
Many Dr. Seuss sculpture reproductions utilize hand-painted cast resin to faithfully recreate original Dr. Seuss sculptures, or to realize new artistic interpretations of Dr. Seuss characters in three-dimensions. Like bronze castings, hand-painted cast resin works must go through an extensive and highly detailed process of modeling, molding, casting, sanding, and finishing. However, unlike bronze, once the sculpture casting is complete, the entire three-dimensional surface of the resin piece must then be delicately hand-painted to match the fidelity of the original or commissioned artwork.
f.) Bronze Sculpture
The creation of The Bronze Tribute Collection marks the first time intimate and large-scale bronze sculptures based upon Dr. Seuss’s characters were ever made in three-dimensions and available for private acquisition. These works, also available for public installation, range in size from fifteen-inch maquettes (small-scale studies) to eight-foot monumental works.
To create the bronze sculpture, first a rubber mold is made of the “original model” that is used to make wax castings. Then a process called “gating” is implemented whereby wax rods are added to the wax model to facilitate the flow of molten bronze. The piece is then coated with several layers of ceramic which completely envelop the sculpture. The entire assembly is heated in a process called “burn-out.” The wax melts as it is heated and then poured out of tiny holes in the ceramic mold. The casting process then begins. First, the solid bronze is heated to at least 2100 degrees Fahrenheit, transforming into a pourable liquid. The molten bronze is carefully poured into the ceramic molds and sits inside until it cools enough to be handled. Using foundry tools, the ceramic mold is broken and the bronze sculpture is carefully removed. The sculpture is then cleaned and, if the sculpture was cast in multiple parts, welded together. Finally, a patina is applied by heating the metal to varying degrees and painting a series of chemicals onto the surface. The chemicals, reacting to the heated metal, begin to alter the raw bronze’s color and ultimately create a surface rich in depth and color.
12. HOW DO I TAKE CARE OF ARTWORK I'VE ALREADY ACQUIRED?
Your artwork was crafted with painstaking attention to detail and it is important to follow these guidelines to be sure it remains in pristine condition for years to come.
Things to Avoid, in General:
Cleaning Artwork:
Storing Artwork:
Always open your artwork upon receipt in order to ensure that it has arrived without damage or defect.
We have given you an abbreviated lesson in how to generally care for your artwork. There will be situations for which these instructions will not provide answers. If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact your gallery or framer. You may also contact us at 847-564-2000 ext 0.