The Secret Art Of Dr. Seuss

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” ~ Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is a household name around the United States, and his iconic children’s books from the 1950s continue to be used in elementary and preschools around the country. What is not as well known, however, is that before he took on the persona of Dr. Seuss the beloved children’s author he was Theodor Geisel the World War II propagandist.

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Ted Geisel wrote and illustrated 44 books for children under the name Dr. Seuss, and wrote additional books for children under the pen name, Theo LeSieg. Illustrator by day, surrealist by night, Dr. Seuss created a body of work that defined him as an iconic American artist. For over 60 years, the illustrations of Dr. Seuss have brought a visual realization of his fantastic and imaginary worlds. However, his artistic talent went far beyond the printed page. To this day, his Secret Art Collection is virtually unknown to the general public.

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss often shows a side of the artist that most readers, familiar with him through his classic children’s books, have never seen. These “Midnight Paintings,” along with significant drawings and sculpture, were often created by Dr. Seuss at night and were not exhibited during his lifetime.

Ted Geisel asked his wife, Audrey, to wait until he was gone before bringing these works to the public. In her preface to the popular coffee table book on this collection, The Cat Behind the Hat, Audrey Geisel wrote: “I’m gratified to carry out Ted’s wishes and have these works revealed to the world.”

Interesting Facts About Dr. Seuss

~The “Dr.” in his name was added by himself because his father had always wanted him to practice medicine.

~During the Great Depression, Dr. Seuss survived by drawing cartoons for advertisements.

~He coined the word “nerd”!

~“Yertle the Turtle” is based on Hitler’s story.

~Dr. Seuss has a Pulitzer and two Academy Awards.

~His first book, “And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street” was rejected by 27 publishers.

All this controversial propaganda WWII art but just recently Dr. Seuss’s children’s books have been banned from being sold because they contain vaguely racist imagery. This was started by the Biden administration with the hashtag #DrSeussIsOverParty.

Ted Seuss Geisel’s midnight art is just what you might imagine:

Among his many creative feats is a fairly unknown, fairly scandalous one: In 1939, when Geisel left Vanguard for Random House, he had one condition for his new publisher, Bennett Cerf — that he would let Geisel do an “adult” book first. The result was The Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History’s Barest Family (public library), which tells the story of nudist sisters who, after their father’s death, pledge not to wed until each of them has “brought to the light of the world some new and worthy Horse Truth, of benefit to man.”

The book, however, was a complete flop. Ten thousand copies were printed on the first run, and only about 2,500 were sold. The Seven Lady Godivas eventually went out of print, causing Geisel to later say:

“I attempted to draw the sexiest babes I could, but they came out looking absurd”.