Self Portrait of An Artist Worrying

It’s facinating that this 1959 painting was done two years after The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas books were published in 1957.
Despite their success, Seuss painted a portrait of himself worrying about his next book. One year later, he overcame selfdoubt and wrote Green Eggs and Ham, the third best selling book in the English language according to Random House Inc.

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, as in his Secret Art works – the paintings and sculptures he did at night for himself that he rarely exhibited during his lifetime. Seuss always dreamed of sharing these works 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 one day be evaluated not only as an author, but also as an artist in his own right.