Hat Tricks

Bill Dreyer has one of the best jobs in the world: He’s the curator for the secret art collection of the beloved children’s author Theodor Geisel, more widely known by his pen name, Dr. Seuss. Because Dreyer has spent so much time in the Geisel home, he’s familiar with something...

By Amber Taufen

July 4, 2013

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Bill Dreyer has one of the best jobs in the world: He’s the curator for the secret art collection of the beloved children’s author Theodor Geisel, more widely known by his pen name, Dr. Seuss. Because Dreyer has spent so much time in the Geisel home, he’s familiar with something that most of us can only wonder about: the author’s extensive hat collection.

Well, wonder no longer. Because this year marks the 75th anniversary of Seuss’s second book, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, it seemed like an opportune time to showcase more of Geisel’s artwork, this time accompanied by selected hats.

“You do see many hats, both in his paintings and in his children’s books,” notes Dreyer. “For this exhibition, we wanted to show direct correlations between specific hats that he has in his collection and artworks that have hats that seem to be inspired by those hats that he owned. Hats seem to be the exclamation point on somebody’s personality.” (And, yes, a certain red-and-white-striped stovepipe hat will be on display, though the story behind it probably isn’t what you’d imagine.)

Hats Off to Dr. Seuss! opens tonight at 6 p.m. at Clayton Lane Fine Art, 110 Clayton Lane, and Dreyer will give a talk starting at 7. Admission to this very special exhibit is free, but hurry, because it’s only on display through July 14. RSVP to 720-214-5263 or claytonlaneart.com.
Fri., June 21, 6-9 p.m.; June 21-July 14, 2013

Amber Taufen has been writing about people, places and things in Denver since 2005. She works as an editor, writer, and production and process guru out of her home office in the foothills.

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