Kay Nielsen

Kay Rasmus Nielsen (1886 – 1957) was an illustration from Denmark who was active during the early 20th century, or “golden age of illustration”. Nielsen became successful in illustrating early twentieth century gift books. He also collaborated with Disney, providing them with a number of story sketches and illustrations.

Illustration from East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Born in Copenhagen to actor parents, Nielsen went on the study fine art in Paris. His first commission was from Hodder and Stoughton in 1913 to illustrate the collection of fairy tales In Powder and Crinoline, Fairy Tales Retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch.

Another illustration from East of the Sun and West of the Moon. (I love the composition and stark contrast of this!! Wow!!)

Over the course of his career, Nielsen illustrated scenes from ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Puss in Boots’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Bluebeard’, ‘East of the Sun and West of the Moon’, ‘The Arabian Nights’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and the story of Joan of Arc.

Illustration from In Powder and Crinoline

In addition to doing illustration work, Nielsen dabbled in fine art and painted numerous landscapes of the Dover area. He learned with the Society of Tempera Painters to reduce the time involved in the painting process and held an exhibition of his work in New York before returning to Denmark.

Illustration from Hansel and Gretel.

In 1939, Nielsen moved to California and began working in Hollywood. He was personally recommended by Joe Grant to Walt Disney, and he was hired to produce concept art. His work was used in sequences of Fantasia. He also introduced concept paintings for a film adaptation of The Little Mermaid, which was released much later in 1989. Nielsen worked for The Walt Disney Company for 4 years before leaving for Denmark and staying there for the rest of his life.

Illustration from East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

Cited

Wikiart, Kay Nielsen: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/nielsen_kay.html

Wikipedia, Kay Nielsen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Nielsen

Artcyclopedia, Kay Nielsen: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/nielsen_kay.html

One of my favourite illustrations of his. Love the smallness of the figure compared to the background.
I love this one too! Great use of leading lines and colour.

One thought on “Kay Nielsen

  1. Coralie,
    Nice work on Doyle and Nielsen. Sounds like Doyle was one of those artistic procrastinators, not unlike Da Vinci in his day. Your information is sound but the only thing I would suggest is more of your personal feelings and opinions on the work you are writing about like you shared with your first term blogs.
    Jeff

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