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79 NIELSEN, Kay (illus.); QUILLER-COUCH, Arthur. “List, ah, list to the zephyr in the grove!” 1913 Original artwork from the artist’s first major success Published within In Powder and Crinoline , sub-titled “Old Fairy Tales Retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch”, in 1913, this fine watercolour was originally reproduced opposite page 52 and is one of the 26 colour plates. The illustration accompanies the tale of “Felicia or The Pot of Pinks”. The verse is as follows: “List, ah, list to the zephyr in the grove! / Where beneath the happy boughs / Flora builds her summerhouse / Whist! ah, whist while the cushat tells his love”.
80 NIELSEN, Kay (illus.); QUILLER-COUCH, Arthur. “The ship headed about and sped over the depths of the sea”. 1913 A fine original watercoour Published within In Powder and Crinoline , sub-titled “Old Fairy Tales Retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch”, in 1913. This fine watercolour was originally reproduced opposite page 124 and is one of the 26 colour plates. The illustration accompanies the tale of “The Man Who Never Laughed”. Writing about “some of the new gift books” in the 1913 Christmas issue of The Bookman , A. St John Adcock stated “Kay Nielsen is a young artist of curiously original gifts. There are
traces in his drawings for In Powder and Crinoline of the influence of Aubrey Beardsley, and there is also an imaginative daring, a fantasy, a fascinating grace and decorative loveliness that is peculiarly his own and make his art unique amongst the illustrations of this year’s books”. Original drawing (297 × 257 mm) on card, laid down on board, fine ink and watercolour, signed and dated (“Kay Nielsen 13”) lower left, mounted, framed, and glazed (framed size 555 × 489 mm). Very minor fading but still a strong and vibrant, near-fine drawing. ¶ Exhibited: Leicester Galleries, London, November–December 1913, item 7. £45,000 [154983]
“Nielsen shows in his development a fancy so delicate and an outlook so original that no charge of plagiarism can be brought against him. His colour work is delicate and suggestive rather than forceful. Very lovely in its faint blues and greens with tones of peach is the illustration plate 21 [this painting] where the high folly, the love birds and the blossom testify to the legacy of Japan” (Nicholson). Original drawing (300 × 259 mm) on card, laid down to board, fine ink and watercolour, signed and dated (“Kay Nielsen 13”) lower left, mounted, framed and glazed (framed size 580 × 525 mm). Some minor foxing; a fine, beautifully characteristic piece in excellent condition. ¶ Keith Nicholson, Kay Nielsen , 1975. Exhibited: Leicester Galleries, London, November–December 1913, item 29. £50,000 [111943]
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
CHILDREN’S BOOKS & ORIGINAL ARTWORK
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