Kay Nielsen

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1886, Kay Rasmus Nielsen described being raised in a “tense atmosphere of art.”
The son of actors Martinius and Oda Nielsen, the artist was deeply immersed in the performing arts from a young age, a formative experience that was to influence the course of his career. With an aptitude for drawing and a passion for literature, Nielsen’s short-lived notion to pursue medicine was abandoned in favor of studying painting in Paris from 1906 to 1911. Nielsen’s formal art training began with French artist Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921) at the Académie Julian, followed by study at the Académie Colarossi under Norwegian painter and illustrator Christian Krohg (1862-1925) and French painter Lucien Simon (1861-1925), among others. In 1907 Nielsen interrupted his studies to travel to New York to accompany his mother, a celebrated actress and singer, on an extended performance tour of the United States sponsored by the Danish-American Society.
While a student of painting, Nielsen also devoted himself to illustration, creating stark black-and-white compositions in pen and ink, related to contemporary literature or inspired by personal experience. This dramatic body of work elicited an invitation in 1910 to exhibit his work at Dowdeswell & Dowdeswells Ltd. Nielsen moved to London where his first exhibition in 1912 included the notable but unpublished series The Book of Death, a sequence of ten illustrations meditating on Pierrot devastated by the death of his beloved. In contrast to many of his contemporaries, Nielsen often focused on the melancholic or macabre elements of tales, and created visual sequences with themes of love, sexuality, loss and death.
Surprised by the intensity of emotion in Nielsen’s illustrations, contemporary reviewers often linked his work to that of Aubrey Beardsley or Carlos Schwabe. Today, Nielsen’s deep appreciation of illustrators active around 1890 to 1910 is evident-Carl Otto Czeschka and Edmund Sullivan come to mind-but the “originality” of his work and his “rare visionary power and imagination” was consistently noted from the start. The success of Nielsen’s first exhibition led to several gift book illustration commissions, and accompanying selling exhibitions, beginning with In Powder and Crinoline, a compilation of French fairytales, by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in 1913. Nielsen’s Rococo-inspired vision resulted in both pastel fancies, as well as brooding, jewel-toned settings for some of the darker tales. A master of fairytale illustration described as “the only living artist who can draw a troll,” Nielsen’s work only occasionally included fairies, as he typically focused on creating dramatic settings for the stories’ protagonists.
Nielsen received greater international attention in 1917 with an exhibition at Scott & Fowles in New York, sponsored by Martin Birnbaum who noted the “genuine pleasure to reach the oasis of a Kay Nielsen picture in a journey through the printed pages of a book.” A portrait photograph of Nielsen in the accompanying exhibition catalogue shows the artist at his desk crowded with pens and pencils, brushes and paint pots. Somewhat staged, the image never nevertheless conveys the complexity of Nielsen’s artistic practice. Technical examination of some of Nielsen’s watercolors suggests a significant effort to plan the illustrations in advance, as the clarity of the initial outline in graphite is striking in confidence. Once the outline was completed, a dense color scape was created through highly controlled use of watercolor. Finally, the drawings were finished in ink, accenting the original outlines. In an example from his Great War series, the paper is scratched extensively to create highlights, further accenting the composition. It seems likely that Nielsen employed masking as a technique to ensure crisp definition. Overall, the works appear tightly controlled, yet in places there is a surprising looseness to his handling of color, and freedom to the decoration. Less well remembered today, Nielsen also worked extensively in pen and ink, creating countless monochrome line illustrations and margin decorations for all of his projects, published or not.
An internationally celebrated artist in his youth, Nielsen found minimal commercial success in the last decades of his life, eking out an existence with Ulla, between Denmark and California, with the support of a small group of devoted friends. In the years prior to his death in 1957, although plagued by poor health, Nielsen completed a handful of public painting commissions, including the school mural The First Spring, a monumental reflection of his artistic abilities as both stage designer and illustrator.
Meghan Melvin
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Curator of Design Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
[from:societyillustr...]
Music: Alio Die, Arianna Tondo "Air Sustain"

[@nobodysbody]

This is one of the most fascinating channels to me, for the subjects you choose to highlight and the care you put into sharing them with us all. I love this artist in particular. There is a distinct sense of other-worldliness in his art, but it still feels close to home, like worlds that could have been our own on a different timeline. Anyway, I really enjoy your videos, thank you for making them.

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you so much Ben! Very kind of you. I really like Kay's art too, very subtle and touching.

[@allaabr3374]

I like your taste & your imagination!!!! I admire your work!!!Thank you very much!!!

[@DistantMirrors]

I'm so happy to hear that, thank you!

[@ţťþtţtt]

Your videos are a blessing! Thank you.

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@K-ORA]

It's the art that makes the videos, and the music choice!

[@BTBT-fr4nh]

can someone tell me what type of paper he used for his painting

[@PedroRodriguez-id1im]

Realmente nos sorprende este canal con tantas esquisiteces.

[@tiadiad]

Wow! This is gorgeous!

[@sebastianmoggia4800]

Absolute joy!!!... As always perfect much between visual and music. Thanks
Do you know music of Jacaszek or Joep Beving?. Probably would fit in some of your next videos

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you for watching! I'm familiar with music of Jacaszek but not Joep Beving. Thank you for the suggestion!

[@felipeandrade2470]

I love your channel

[@zinyuzhiri3146]

Las publicaciones de este canal nunca me decepcionan, saludos y sigue asi :)

[@adrianvidler1706]

really good

[@yanzhu_]

thank you!!! i really appreciate every video on your channel ❤️ because they made so good: sound, high quality pictures! love u

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you so much for your kind words!

[@eleonoraAggelou]

Excellent!!!

[@penduclaude8169]

J avoue 🏕

[@K-ORA]

Amazing! The artist really takes you somewhere else! And the music helps you on the ride along the way. Thank you for showcasing all this cool work

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you for watching!

[@penduclaude8169]

Fantasia ..merci 🪶🧚

[@allaabr3374]

Thank you ❤️

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you for watching!