Henson and his characters. Photo by John E. Barrett, courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Kermit the Frog © The Muppets Studio, LLC. Jim Henson's characters provided an outlet for the various sides of his sense of humor and personality, and Henson always considered Kermit the Frog his alter ego.

September 12 through November 29, 2009
Della Penna-Fernberger | Paton | Smith Galleries

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"Jim didn't think in terms of boundaries at all the way the rest of us do. There are always these fences we build around ourselves and our ideas. Jim seemed to have no fences."
—Jon Stone, Sesame Street producer and director

Without "fences" to limit where his imagination could roam, Jim Henson (1936-1990)—artist, puppeteer, film director and producer—created elaborate imaginary worlds filled with unique characters, objects, environments and even languages and cultures. Jim Henson's Fantastic World, an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the Jim Henson Legacy, offered a rare peek into the imagination and creative genius of this multitalented innovator and creator of Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and other beloved characters.

Jim Henson's Fantastic World was the inaugural show in the Della Penna-Fernberger | Paton | Smith Galleries, the new exhibition space that is the center-piece of the Museum's $12 million expansion.

This exhibition featured 100 original artworks, including drawings, cartoons and storyboards that illustrate Henson's talent as a storyteller and visionary. Among the variety of exhibition objects were puppets and television and movie props, photographs of Henson and his collaborators at work and original video productions, including excerpts from Henson's early career and experimental films. The exhibition installation included a resource room, which featured hands-on activities for children of all ages, including a puppet theater.

Henson and Kermit. Photo courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Kermit the Frog © The Muppets Studio, LLC. Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog in 1978 on the set of The Muppet Movie.

"It's such a treat to get to know Jim Henson through his doodles and drawings, his puppets and his fantastic performances," said Karen Falk, curator of the exhibition and archivist at The Jim Henson Company. "I'm delighted to be able to share this inspiring and entertaining experience with people all over the country. Seeing his original work firsthand opens a window into his visual thinking and provides both an appreciation of Jim as an artist and a reason to laugh out loud."

Sir Linit. Photo by John E. Barrett, © 2007 The Jim Henson Company. Henson developed hundreds of characters and designs for commercial purposes, including this iron-footed knight for Linit, a spray fabric finisher in 1967.

From the very beginning, Henson expressed his ideas with incredible bursts of invention, through a variety of visual forms, clever dialogue, songs, comic bits and animation. All of his work reveals a highly sophisticated and nuanced thought process, evident in the decades-long metamorphosis of a small group of captivating characters from simple doodles to cartoons to puppets to films. What began as a one-man enterprise eventually grew into an international phenomenon. As time passed, the simple hand puppets that Henson created for his first television show, "Sam and Friends," evolved into increasingly more sophisticated characters—from the Muppets of "The Muppet Show," "Sesame Street" and "Fraggle Rock" fame to the larger-than-life fantasy creatures of "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth".

Sketch - Frackles. © 2007 The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved. The whimsical nature of Henson's ink-and-marker-on-paper sketches of the Frackles for a 1970 television special is inherent in all of his work and evident in the world of Fraggle Rock.

Jim Henson's Fantastic World was organized by The Jim Henson Legacy and SITES, in cooperation with the Henson Family; The Jim Henson Company; The Muppets Studio, LLC; and Sesame Workshop. The exhibition was made possible by The Biography Channel. Additional support has been provided The Jane Henson Foundation and Cheryl Henson.

The Biography Channel is a 24-hour digital cable network dedicated to presenting compelling stories about the world's most interesting people. One of the most sought after and fastest growing channels available today, The Biography Channel presents vibrant profiles of intriguing individuals, plus exciting new original series, short features and documentaries.

Established in 1992, The Jim Henson Legacy was founded by Jane Henson, colleagues and friends in response to the extraordinary interest in the life and prolific body of work by Jim Henson. The non-profit 501(C3) organization is dedicated to preserving and perpetuating Jim Henson's contributions to the worlds of puppetry, television and motion pictures, special effects and media technology. By making Jim Henson's creative work available to the public through presentations and exhibits, the Legacy's mission is to share the power of his art, his imagination and his positive view of life with generations to come.

SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 50 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play.

Henson fun for the entire family!
In celebration of Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit, a variety of programs are available for adults and children. View the program [2MB PDF] *.