I was unfamiliar with German artist Paul Friedrich Meyerheim until recently. He isn't primarily known for fairy tale illustrations (unlike beloved illustrators such as Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen, and others well-known in the fairy tale community), but he illustrated an 1893 edition of the Grimms' Kinder und Hausmarchen.
He really loved depicting animals in his work, so the illustrations here feature animal tales pretty heavily. Posts like this provide a fun opportunity for "Name that fairy tale," especially with some of the lesser known animal tales. How many can you name? Answers at the bottom...(all from Grimms)
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Answers:
The Bremen Musicians one is fantastic. And all the goat toys in the Seven Kids are hilarious. Hobby-goat? lol
ReplyDeleteHa-I didn't even notice the goat toys until you pointed them out (or the antlers on the clock!) Although these illustrations are pretty stereotypical for the time period (all blonde princesses except for Snow White), I do love the inclusion of details and fun surprises in his pictures. Like the Goose Girl one- it gives you visuals of many of the important aspects of the story-Falada's head on the wall, the goose boy running after the hat-he manages to cram a lot of each tale into each picture
DeleteGreat article! I strange thing is that some later versions of this P.M. illustrations are more meticulously depicted, very in detail and better coloring. I wondered if P.M. improved those illustrations himself or someone else...
ReplyDeleteHope to share with you the passion of fairy tales!