Meet the cat in the pool hall

Green eggs and ham, a cat in the hat and ... “unorthodox” taxidermy? If that last entry in the Dr. Seuss pantheon seems a tad “Silence of the Lambs” for your taste, take heart: Though “The Art of Dr. Seuss: A Retrospective and National Touring Exhibition” at the Sarah Bain Gallery in Brea promises to reveal the “secret” art of the famed children’s book author, what’s on display is simply grown-up stuff, not nightmare material.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodor Geisel, had artistic interests beyond spinning fantastic tales for the rug-rat set. Though Geisel, who died in 1991, had a stint as a political cartoonist during the 1940s, his more adult-themed artwork stayed behind closed doors as his fame among children grew. Painting and sketching late at night, he thrived on being able to set aside the endless revisions his children’s books demanded to create without restrictions.

“It was his dream to have it released, but he made a decision to not do it during his lifetime,” says William Dreyer, art historian and curator for the exhibit. “He didn’t want to conflict with his public persona.”

That isn’t to say the exhibit is adults-only; children were to be the honored guests Wednesday, when the gallery played host to a party to commemorate the artist’s 101st birthday. The artwork that makes up the exhibit, which is traveling across the country until January, is hardly scandalous by today’s standards.

To wit: There are a few busty cartoon nudes, some sly humor likely to fly over the heads of anyone young enough to be scandalized by it and, in “Cat From the Wrong Side of the Tracks,” a feline that puffs a cigarette while playing billiards.

“We have had a lot of people surprised to see Seuss has smoking in his pieces,” gallery owner Sally Waranch says. “But there are a lot of things people are going to be surprised about.”

Seuss devotees who can look past a few scantily clad sketches may be interested to see that Geisel not only experimented with mediums other than pen and ink (such as watercolor and oils), but also tried on different styles as well, dabbling in Dali-esque Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Impressionism. “He was a cultural sponge,” Dreyer says. “He really tried to reflect what was going on around him at the time.”

But regardless of how much he borrowed from the trends of the day, as in his MC Escher-inspired “The Economic Situation Clarified” or the abstract “Archbishop Katz” (which depicts a cathedral as a jumble of jagged, colorful shapes), a Seussian sensibility is always evident. Cats and fanciful birds sneak onto canvases, and brightly colored curlicues spring up where you’d least expect them.

“It makes you understand that he never condescended to children, because the sensibility of his books and his private artwork are the same,” Dreyer explains, noting that it was likely parents and not kids who picked up on the anti-fascist subtext of 1958’s “Yertle the Turtle.” “Seuss is Seuss through and through.”

Even when it comes to, of all things, taxidermy. During the 1930s, Geisel’s zookeeper father began sending his son the castoff horns, beaks and antlers of his animal charges, inspiring the young artist to use them in sculptures of mystical creatures sprung from his own imagination. “He was creating what he thought these animals would want to be reincarnated as,” Dreyer says.

The results, mostly round-eyed and grinning creatures like the Semi-Normal Green-Lidded Fawn, are too cute to be off-putting, but Depression-era art enthusiasts apparently didn’t see their charm. “Seuss tried to do a mail-order sculpture project trying to sell these things, but it wasn’t successful,” Dreyer says.

Too bad, because anyone who might have picked up a gazelle-like Blue-Green Abelard back then would have plenty to celebrate today.

Though this exhibit is made up of reproductions (Geisel’s widow, Audrey, is keeping the originals in her possession for the foreseeable future), the limited-edition prints and resin-cast taxidermy are hot collectibles.

“There are so many people who don’t know this artwork is out there, but among those who do, there’s a craze,” says Waranch, who adds that new prints and sculptures from the secret art stash are being released this year. “It’s incredibly hard to find these on the secondary market. This isn’t an investment to people. It’s something they have an attachment to, that they want to keep.”

Which is why you won’t see a Blue-Green Abelard at Waranch’s gallery. Though she sold 25 of the reproductions when they first became available in 1997, she’s been unable to persuade any of her clients to sell them back to her for the exhibit. “We initially sold them for $1,995 each, and at the last gallery show, one sold for $25,000,” Waranch says with a sigh. “I’m the fool who didn’t buy a ton of these when I first had them.”

The hot market in secret Seuss would have been especially gratifying to Geisel, who was well aware that the artwork of a children’s book illustrator would have been widely pooh-poohed by the fine art establishment during the 1950s and ‘60s. But his status as a lasting cultural touchstone and changing attitudes toward fine art illustration have opened a door between blue-chip art aficionados and Seuss fans. “Our intent from the beginning was to bring this art to serious collectors,” Dreyer says. “We could make posters of these works and sell millions of them, but we won’t.”

After all, Seuss’ artwork has found more impressive places to hang out than over your living room sofa. In addition to finding space at the Sara Bain Gallery, which specializes in original works from emerging artists, “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a gallery and seen Picasso and Chagall on one side of the gallery and Dr. Seuss on the other,” Dreyer says. Hey, even art snobs can’t be Grinches all the time.

*

The Art of Dr. Seuss

A Retrospective and National Touring Exhibition

Where: Sarah Bain Gallery, 110 W. Birch St., Suite B2, Brea

When: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesdays through Thursdays, Sundays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturdays

Ends: March 13

Contact: (714) 255-1447; www.sarahbaingallery.com