Kay Nielsen 1886-1957

Kay (pronounced Kigh) Rasmus Nielsen was born into an illustrious Danish theatre family – his parents both being celebrated actors of the time.

As a child Nielsen's artistic talent blossomed when he began drawing the fantastical scenes he imagined as he read the sagas of the northern countries.

Nielsen's work was influenced in a major way by three things;

The oriental art that his grandfather brought back from his trips to China.

The artistic style of Aubrey Beardsley particularly his floral style and elongated figures.

Thirdly, Nielsen was heavily influenced by the Art Nouveau movement which was popular between 1890 and 1910.

Career

He received his first English commission from Hodder and Stoughton to illustrate a collection of fairy tales, providing 24 colour plates and more than 15 monotone illustrations for In Powder and Crinoline, Fairy Tales Retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in 1913.

Also in 1913, Nielsen was commissioned by The Illustrated London News to produce a set of four illustrations to accompany the tales of ; Nielsen's illustrations for 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Puss in Boots', 'Cinderella' and 'Bluebeard' were published in the 1913 Christmas Edition.

A year later in 1914, Nielsen provided 25 colour plates and more than 21 monotone images for the children's collection East of the Sun and West of the Moon. The colour images for both In Powder and Crinoline and East of the Sun and West of the Moon were reproduced by a 4-colour process, in contrast to many of the illustrations prepared by his contemporaries that characteristically utilized a traditional 3-colour process.

stuart-turnbull.com In 1917 Nielsen left for New York where an exhibition of his work was held and subsequently he returned to . Together with a collaborator, Johannes Poulsen, he painted stage scenery for the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. During this time, Nielsen also worked on an extensive suite of illustrations intended to accompany a translation of Scheherazade's Arabian Nights that had been undertaken by the Arabic scholar, Professor Arthur Christensen. According to Nielsen's own published comments, these illustrations were to be the basis of his return to book illustrations following a hiatus during World War I and the intention had been to publish the Danish version in parallel with versions for the English-speaking world and the French market. The project never came to fruition and Nielsen's illustrations remained unknown until many years after his death when they were used in the 1977 publication The Unknown Paintings of Kay Nielsen.

Following his theatrical work in Copenhagen, Nielsen returned to contributing to illustrated books with the publication of Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen in 1924. That title included 12 colour plates and more than 40 monotone illustrations. The colour images were prepared with integrated formal and informal borders; the informal borders were produced in a mille fleur style. A year later, Nielsen provided the artwork for Hansel and Gretel, and Other Stories by the Brothers Grimm which was first published with 12 colour images and over 20 detailed monotone illustrations. A further 5 years passed before the publication of Red Magic the final title to be illustrated comprehensively by Nielsen. The 1930 version of Red Magic included 8 colour and more than 50 monotone contributions from the Danish artist.

stuart-turnbull.com In 1939 Nielsen left for California and worked for Hollywood companies. A personal recommendation from to secured Nielsen a job with , where his work was used in the "Ave Maria" and "Night on Bald Mountain" sequences of Fantasia. Nielsen was renowned at the Disney studio for his concept art and he contributed artwork for many Disney films, including concept paintings for a proposed adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. The adaptation was to be part of a package film containing various segments based on Anderson's fairy tales. The film, however, was not made within Nielsen's lifetime and his work went unused until production started on the 1989 film. Nielsen worked for The Walt Disney Company for 4 years, from 1937 to 1941 before being let go.

Nielsen briefly returned to Denmark in desperation. However, he found his works no longer in demand there either. His final years were spent in poverty. His last works were for local schools, including 'The First Spring' mural installed at Central Junior High School, Los Angeles and churches, including his painting to the Wong Chapel at the First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, illustrating the 23rd Psalm.

Nielsen contracted a chronic cough that would plague him until his death on June 21, 1957 at the age of 71. His funeral service was held under his mural in the Wong Chapel. Ulla, his wife since she was 21, died the following year.

Before her death to diabetes, Ulla gave Nielson's remaining illustrations to Frederick Monhoff, who in turn tried to place them in museums. However, none – American or Danish – would accept them at the time. Some of his works are now in the collection of the University of Pittsburgh's Information Sciences Library.

Today, the resurgence in interest in the Art Nouveau movement has fuelled a demand for Nielsen's work which is popular on both ebay and Etsy and this Mini Guide has been put together to help you to make money with Nielsen's wonderful art work.

stuart-turnbull.com East of The Sun and West of The Moon

stuart-turnbull.com This particular title was first published in 1914 by Hodder and Stoughton of London and simultaneously by George H Doran of New York and included 25 colored plates, the edition that this seller is describing as from 1975 is most likely the 1977 edition published by Doubleday, Garden City New York which included 13 colored plates (as far as I can ascertain there was no 1975 edition)

stuart-turnbull.com The 1977 Doubleday edition can be purchased relatively cheaply on addall.com

$12.13 (including shipping to US) for 13 plates equals less than a dollar per plate so this one offers a nice low cost way to get your feet wet in this niche with the potential for a reasonable profit!

Also look out for the undated edition that was published by George Doran in the early 1920's. This edition was the last one to contain all 25 colored plates from the 1914 first edition.

stuart-turnbull.com Look out for copies in poor condition with the plates intact like this one that sold recently on ebay.

And here's another one;

This particular book could be the first US edition published in 1914 as this edition was undated (with descriptions like this one that refer to soiled and torn pages I strongly advise you to ask the seller what condition the plates are in BEFORE investing)

These pre-1923 editions are in the public domain so you are free to sell digital copies of the popular plates as this seller is doing very successfully on Etsy;

stuart-turnbull.com Etsy, unlike ebay has no restrictions controlling the sale of digital downloads, this seller has simply obtained a first edition copy, scanned the plates at 300dpi and is selling them at $1.99 each!

stuart-turnbull.com The combination of comparatively low Etsy fees (compared to ebay) and the fact that you can automate the delivery of your digital files makes this a particularly attractive business model and it is one that I am planning to explore in the New Year! (keep an eye on your inbox and you'll be the first to find out how I get on!)

Another profitable option is to scan and print your own copies as Steve King and Barry Wells explain in Easy Auction Profits

stuart-turnbull.com In Powder and Crinoline

First published in the UK by Hodder and Stoughton in 1913 this title contained 24 colored plates.

In Powder and Crinoline was later published as The Twelve Dancing Princesses by George Doran & Co in the US in 1923 and contained 16 colored plates.

These plates are popular on ebay and etsy

The First UK edition of 1913 is quite expensive to source

My tip is to look out for a copy of the US version The Twelve Dancing Princesses

stuart-turnbull.com Although it contains fewer plates (16) the per plate price of this particular copy is $7.18 compared to $15.41 for the copy of In Powder and Crinoline shown above.

We can see exactly what the cheaper book contains thanks to this listing that is currently on ebay.

stuart-turnbull.com stuart-turnbull.com stuart-turnbull.com TIP

Always remember to search ebay (current and completed listings) for book titles you are researching. Unlike with Addall you will often get images of the plates as in this example which cuts out the guesswork as to exactly what the book in question contains.

Personally I wouldn't invest in this particular copy but I'd take a closer look at this one

Don't let foreign language descriptions stop you from bagging a bargain, simply copy the description and paste it into Google's translation tool

stuart-turnbull.com and also this one

You'll notice the small “nd” in the screen shot above, this is short for “no date” so this particular copy has no date of publication on the title page but we can see from the description that this book contains 16 colored plates (“15 tipped in color plates plus frontis”) has 244 pages and is published by Doran NY so it is most likely the same edition featured in the ebay listing.

It may also be that the German seller's copy is the same edition and he has made an assumption about the date being 1930.

These copies are certainly from the same period as the first editions so I would have no hesitation in scanning the plates (at 300dpi) and listing the digital images on Etsy.

stuart-turnbull.com stuart-turnbull.com stuart-turnbull.com The Unknown Paintings of Kay Nielsen

This book is a great way to get started for next to nothing!

The book was published in 1977 and contains 42 full color blank on reverse plates.

This seller has almost recouped their investment with the sale of just one plate!

Listing Tip: You'll notice that none of the seller's featured in this guide have used the title keywords “Art Nouveau”. Nielsen's work was very much in the Art Nouveau style and you should use this popular and growing search term.

stuart-turnbull.com Conclusion

The 'Golden Age of Illustration' from the 1880's to the 1920's was a period of unprecedented excellence in book and magazine illustration. It developed from advances in technology permitting accurate and inexpensive reproduction of art combined with a voracious public demand for new graphic art.

Kay Nielsen is ranked alongside the likes of and Edmund Dulac as one of the leading lights in the Golden Age of Illustration but is far from a household name.

In the last 90 days on all of the major ebay sites combined there were only 66 items listed with the keywords “Kay Nielsen print”

Compare that to the 2,365 listings with the keywords “Arthur Rackham print” during the same period.

I believe that this coupled with the general resurgence in interest in the Art Nouveau movement will raise Kay Nielsen's profile over the coming months which will lead to an increased demand for his work.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my free Mini Guide which comes with my very best wishes for a successful 2014!

stuart-turnbull.com Legal Stuff

The author has striven to be as accurate and complete as possible in the completion of this guide, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the internet.

This ebook is a guide to selling vintage prints online. In practical advice books like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to rely upon their own judgement about their individual circumstances and to act accordingly.

This ebook is not intended as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek the services of competent professionals in these fields.

Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional

All Rights Reserved

This ebook is the copyright of Stuart Turnbull and no part of it may be copied, altered or duplicated in any way without the permission of the copyright holder.

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