Friday, July 21, 2017

Fairy Tales Illustrated by Carl Offterdinger

Just discovered the illustrations of Carl Offterdinger, 1829-1889. I think my favorite might be the one focusing on Hansel below, dropping the stones while the rest of the family walks on ahead. Puss in Boots looks so natural putting on his boots, too. 

Hansel and Gretel


Little Red Riding Hood

The Wolf and the Seven Kids

Little Brother and Little Sister

Puss in Boots

Snow White

The Wishing Table


Sleeping Beauty

The Pied Piper

The Valiant Little Tailor

The Nutcracker


Hop O' My Thumb





2 comments:

  1. Oh, those are exquisite! Interesting that Little Red Tiding Hood is not wearing a cape, as usually portrayed, just a red hat. But I gave a vague memory of the story being called "Little Red Cap".

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  2. I saw a few of these before, good to know the artist. My first impression was that he's not that good at drawing faces because a lot of the expressions of the characters didn't make sense at the first glance, but once you think about them, they actually do. Why does the wolf look so friendly at the 7 kids? He's not friendly, he's in a good mood, because he's gonna eat them. Why does the miller's son look so pissed and Puss in Boots a bit guilty? Oh right, e just spent his las money on those boots.

    @Sue: A "Cheperon" or "Riding Hood" looks like the capes Red is usually portrayed with, but when Ludwig Tieck wrotehis version of Red Riding Hood, he used the translation " Rotkäppchen" or "Little Red Cap", some say to satirize the french revolutionaries who wore red caps (bonnet rouge). But maybe just because the German word for Chaperon "Gugel" is kind of silly sounding ;) (Yes, it's pronounced almost xactly like "Google") The Grimms later used Tiecks name "Rotkäppchen". So In German illustrations you will often find Red wearing a cap rather than a cape

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