The power of enduring friendship
“Friendships often have a profound impact on our lives and can be our most significant source for guidance, trust, and inspiration. This dynamic new sculpture is a bold reminder of that idea.”
$6,495 USD
Learn more about this work HERE.
Hand-Painted Cast Resin Sculpture
Authorized Estate Edition
Dimensions: 15" H x 6" W x 4.5" D with a .75" x 6.75" base
Limited Edition of 850 Arabic Numbers
99 Patrons’ Collection
155 Collaborators’ Proofs
5 Hors d’Commerce
Adapted posthumously from the 1970 original acrylic on canvas board.
Secure your acquisition now!
Please contact your local gallery for how to acquire and to learn more.
Watch the video below
“Dr. Seuss’s friendships played a pivotal role in nearly every facet of his personal and professional life. One of the most impactful was his relationship with Lee Katz.”
Army Signal Corps’ “Fort Fox,” Hollywood, c. 1944. Dr. Seuss second from right, Lee Katz far left.
Lee Katz was Dr. Seuss’s lifelong friend whom he served with during World War II. Their enduring friendship ultimately set Dr. Seuss on a new course that would inspire his artistic output for nearly 50 years.
Ted Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) visited Katz’s home on the west coast after the war, finding the sun and views of the ocean so intoxicating that he proclaimed he wanted to move to California where he could walk around outside in his pajamas. That move proved one of the most inspiring moments of his life, with California’s flora and fauna becoming the inspiration for many of the most famous images and stories Ted would create.
Ted at his drawing table
The friends you love most… who is your chosen one?
“For Ted, Lee Katz was his chosen one, whimsically honoring him in the iconic send-up of Joseph Katz and his multicolored coat.”
Ted Geisel was a perennial practical joker, never missing an opportunity to poke fun at himself and those closest to him. His iconic image of Joseph Katz is a shining, multicolored example of this. In the historic biblical tale, Jacob bestows a coat of many colors upon Joseph to symbolize his chosen status. Ted twists this story to honor and elevate Lee Katz as his most valued friend.
However, beyond the whimsy is something quite poignant: Ted’s Joseph Katz becomes a powerful image for us all to pay tribute to our most important friendships.
Joseph Katz and His Coat of Many Colors
We are them and they are us
In a gesture that further amplifies Ted’s thoughts about his closest friend, he painted Lee Katz as one of his most iconic characters – a cat. The idea of using characters to convey people in our lives was a consistent concept throughout Ted’s entire body of work, as Robert Chase, publisher of the Art of Dr. Seuss Collection writes:
“What took root early in Dr. Seuss’s art and remained constant throughout his 70 years of work was the enduring idea that every Seussian character resembles people we know. Ted instinctively infused his creatures with real emotions, so much so that we never get lost in wondering if we, or those we know, look like his characters. Instead, his real genius was that we are swept up in feeling like his characters. We are them and they are us.”
Secret Art Sculpture Collection 1
This groundbreaking collection began with the introduction of The Indistinct Cat sculpture, launched on the eve of the Art of Dr. Seuss Collection’s 25th Anniversary. The Indistinct Cat is now joined by the rare and iconic Joseph Katz.
The acclaimed artist Michael DeFeo was commissioned to realize both works in three dimensions. DeFeo is most well-known for translating Horton and the Lorax into three-dimensional sculptures for the production of those two blockbuster films. Michael is currently working on the third and final sculpture in the first Secret Art Sculpture Collection.
To learn more about the artist, CLICK HERE.
The Impact of Friendship on the trajectory of Dr. Seuss
When Lee Katz invited Ted to visit the west coast for the first time, Ted was smitten. The sun reflecting off the water captivated him. The exotic vegetation inspired him, and the weather was a welcome reprieve from the cold winters of the East Coast. With Lee’s help and guidance, Ted moved to California in the late 1940’s. His work began incorporating this new landscape, and the iconic images that would catapult Dr. Seuss to international fame emerged.
Interested in purchasing this artwork? Acquire Artwork
For more information on this artwork, click here
1,995 USD
International Purchases: Prices are shown in US Dollars only and do not reflect local exchange rates. Local taxes, import duties or shipping & handling are not included. Please contact a gallery for local pricing.
Mixed Media Pigment Print on Archival Canvas
Authorized Estate Edition
Image Size: 22” x 44” with additional canvas border
Limited Edition of 850 Arabic Numbers
99 Patrons’ Collection
155 Collaborators’ Proofs
5 Hors d’Commerce
2 Printer's Proofs
For centuries we have pursued the ability to soar like a bird, wings spread and carried by the wind. Flight represents the unbridled grace of movement and the unrestricted thrill of freedom. To fly unimpeded is a fantasy of surreal proportions and a constant source of inspiration throughout time.
Dr. Seuss witnessed the magic of flight firsthand, not only on his travels around the world, but also directly from his studio window. It was there that he watched birds migrate up and down the California coast. He watched the native birds nest within the tropical flora and fauna that populated the hillside on which he lived. The view from his studio inspired his creativity and made its way into countless paintings and book projects throughout his career.
This image depicts the coastline outside Ted’s window and foreshadows the Truffula Trees that would appear later in The Lorax.
Interested in purchasing this artwork? Acquire Artwork
3,495 USD - Unframed
International Purchases: Prices are shown in US Dollars only and do not reflect local exchange rates. Local taxes, import duties or shipping & handling are not included. Please contact a gallery for local pricing.
Mixed-Media Pigment Print on Archival Canvas
Authorized Estate Edition
Image Size: 22” x 44” with additional canvas border
Limited Edition of 850 Arabic Numbers
99 Patrons’ Collection
155 Collaborators’ Proofs
5 Hors d’Commerce
Adapted posthumously from the original oil on canvas painting by Theodor Seuss Geisel
For 43 years, Dr. Seuss’s daily inspiration was his studio’s Pacific vista, a spectacular 180-degree panorama of the coastline from Oceanside to Mexico. His wife Audrey recalls, “I can’t imagine Ted really being productive without that view.”
Freebird, a long sold-out limited edition, similarly depicts a yellow Seussian bird, sailing contentedly midst waves rolling against a rosy sky, his incredibly long tail floating high above him.
Here, Firebird, uses the same elements but with a far different implication. Here his flame-red bird is focused, navigating with great resolve the invigorating seas of life.
For even more information about this artwork, click here.
Firebird is an example of the grace and ease with which we can navigate our lives, despite the waves we may encounter. Inspired by the view outside his window, this work also appears to be inspired by the many friendships that help guide Ted throughout his life.
Interested in purchasing this artwork? Acquire Artwork
1,995 USD - Unframed
International Purchases: Prices are shown in US Dollars only and do not reflect local exchange rates. Local taxes, import duties or shipping & handling are not included. Please contact a gallery for local pricing.
Serigraph on Archival Canvas
Authorized Estate Edition
Image Size: 36” x 24.75” with additional canvas border
Limited Edition of 850 Arabic Numbers
99 Patrons’ Collection
155 Collaborators’ Proofs
5 Hors d’Commerce
2 Printer's Proofs
Adapted posthumously from the circa 1964 original painting.
CLICK HEREfor a complete overview of this artwork.
Archbishop Katz in His Cathedral not only seems an homage to this valued relationships, it also becomes a tribute to the importance of friendships in our own lives. Those closest to us are the ones with whom we feel most comfortable, they are the ones we joke with most easily, and the ones to whom we bestow nicknames or other signs of affection.
Interested in purchasing this artwork? Acquire Artwork
1,295 USD - Unframed
International Purchases: Prices are shown in US Dollars only and do not reflect local exchange rates. Local taxes, import duties or shipping & handling are not included. Please contact a gallery for local pricing.
Fine Art Pigment Print on Acid-Free Paper with deckled edges
Authorized Estate Edition
Image and Paper Size: 26" x 36"
Limited Edition of 850 Arabic Numbers
155 Collaborators’ Proofs
This work is also printed in a standard format comprised of 2500 Arabic Numbers, 99 Patrons' Collection prints, 155 Collaborators' Proofs, 2 Printer's Proofs, and 5 Hors d'Commerce. The total size of the edition is 3,766.
“Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is vintage Seuss, an anything-but-solemn illustrated sermon on the thrills and adventures that await you on the road to success in life. Of course, the doctor points out the pitfalls as well as the summits. But in the end all comes out right, as that young pajama-clad Seussian hero triumphs over the delightfully fearsome pictorial creatures that bestrew this way.” — Herb Kupferberg’s May 1990 syndicated conversation with Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss’s iconic cover image has become synonymous with the ideals outlined in Kupferberg’s statement above. The fact that it graces the cover of his last book has catapulted the image into the public conscious at a level beyond that of nearly any other Seussian image.
For even more information about this artwork,
click here
In this additional send up to Ted’s friend Lee Katz, he elevates Katz to archbishop status. Ted positions him in a kaleidoscopic prism of colors reminiscent of Wayfair’s Chapel which sat next door to Lee Katz’s California home where Ted visited after the war. It was there that Ted fell in love with California.
When Ted first visited Lee Katz’s home in the 1940’s, he fell in love with California and proclaimed that he wanted to live somewhere where he could walk around outside in his pajamas. Ted’s final book Oh The Places You’ll Go features a young boy doing just that - walking outside in his yellow pajamas experiencing all life has to offer. He wrote this final book from his hilltop studio in La Jolla, CA nearly 40 years after that first visit to Lee Katz’s home.
Please contact your local gallery for how to acquire and to learn more.