Golden Age Illustrator: Kay Nielsen

(Find me at 50 Watts Books.)



Kay Nielsen, illus. for Andersen's story "The Tinderbox" (see the original post) [Tinderbox!]


Though this is my first post on Danish-American illustrator Kay Nielsen (1886–1957), his influence can be seen everywhere on 50 Watts (try Lathrop and Sterrett).


The Golden Age have done a great job of archiving Nielsen's work online—they made most of these scans. (Update: RIP Golden Age - I removed the links.) Calla Editions have reprinted East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North and will soon reprint In Powder and Crinoline (wisely re-titled The Twelve Dancing Princesses).


December 2015 update: Taschen has published a beautiful-looking slipcovered edition.



Andersen tale





East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914





East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914





East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914





East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914





East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914





East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914





In Powder and Crinoline, 1912





In Powder and Crinoline, 1912





In Powder and Crinoline, 1912





In Powder and Crinoline, 1912





In Powder and Crinoline, 1912





In Powder and Crinoline, 1912





Hansel and Gretel / the Brothers Grimm, 1925





Hansel and Gretel / the Brothers Grimm, 1925





Hansel and Gretel / the Brothers Grimm, 1925

















Hansel and Gretel / the Brothers Grimm, 1925





Hansel and Gretel / the Brothers Grimm, 1925





Hansel and Gretel / the Brothers Grimm, 1925





Hansel and Gretel / the Brothers Grimm, 1925





Red Magic, 1930





Red Magic, 1930





Kay Nielsen, "Night on Bald Mountain" draft for Fantasia, 1940