86
●
MAX GINSBURG.
“Beyond the Cellar Door.”
Oil on board. 546x406mm; 21
1
/
2
x16 inches, image; 762x508mm; 30x20 board. Cover art
for the young adult novel by Jan O’Donnell Klaveness, NewYork: Scholastic Books, 1991.
Signed in image, lower right. Board is untrimmed and captioned lower margin; publisher’s
proof of full cover taped to verso.
[7,000/10,000]
A classic young adult novel that befits an HGTV dream episode, about two children’s discovery of a
magical Victorian house which seems to fulfill their wishes by decorating itself to fit their desires.The
image perfectly evokes the curiosity and wonder all children feel when gazing upon that “haunted
house” in every neighborhood. Ginsburg wrote of the image: “I made the nearly haunted appearing
house the focal point of this composition by back staging and spotlighting it and painting a dark men-
acing sky behind.The children focus the viewer to the house by looking at it from the foreground.”
