Hansel and Gretel by Kay Nielsen Print

Kay Nielsen was a Danish artist who received his first commission to illustrate a fairy tale book called "In Powder and Crinoline, Fairy Tales Retold" by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in 1913. He was born into an artistic family. He had three outside influences that were evident in his art style. The first was an oriental influence. His grandfather always brought art and sculptures back home from China when he was a child. Aubrey Beardsley was his second influence in artistic style. Many of Beardsley's characteristics are in Nielsen's work, especially his floral style and his elongated figures which were evident in his book illustrations. The Art Nouveau movement also was an influence in his work. It was said he was either influenced by it or was a contributor to it... or maybe both. This particular illustration came from a book called "Hansel and Gretel and Other Stories by the Brother's Grimm" published in 1925. "They saw that the cottage was made of bread and cakes".