Self Portrait from his “secret art” collection

Bird Lady from Dr Seuss’ secret art collection

Woman in negligee

There’s a side to Dr. Seuss I would never have known about if a friend hadn’t suggested we go check out his exhibit of his hats at a small gallery in SoHo.  We went down after work, stopping at Mercer Kitchen first (I’ve had fun spotting celebrities there, like Robin Williams).  It was definitely a small exhibit, and bonus – free!  The collection was promoted for the hats (which we weren’t “allowed to photograph” so don’t look for a photo here).  The hats were but a small portion of his 500 hats.  It was fun to see the actual Cat in the Hat hat.  His self portrait was one of his first – the real title is “Self-Portrait of a Young Man Shaving”  It reminded me of a young shaver and made me laugh (I shared the photo with him later – he agreed, it reminded him of him too!)   Some of his paintings seemed, well almost like ’50s soft porn, Seussian style!  No wonder he called it secret art, art he created at night in a hidden studio in his home.  Although I’m not a prude, but my childhood image of Dr Seuss shifted when I saw the “Bird Ladies” one woman-bird in a negligee and another in a bikini.  There is another (not shown) of a mostly naked woman being carried on the shoulders of a man with, ummm, a pussy cat for his head (Ah, yup.  That pussy cat was right between her thighs).  The wonder of Adventure Wednesdays.  I never expected to see such adult art from a childhood idol, but am glad to have a wider and more mature perspective of Mr. Geisel.