Danish Golden Age illustrator. Kay (pronounced "kigh") was born in Copenhagen in the family of actors. Because of his parents' professional lives, he grew up surrounded by people of the Scandinavian theater, including such celebrities as Ibsen and Grieg. From 1904 to 1911 he studied art in Paris at Academies Julian and Colarossi. After service in the Royal Danish Guards, in 1911-1916, he worked in London for the "Tatler" and also illustrated many books. He was influenced from the start by the styles of Beardsley, Burne-Jones and the influx of Japanese art spreading to the West at this time. In 1936 he was invited to stage Max Reinhardt's Everyman at the Hollywood Bowl. Together with his wife, Ulla, he came to California where he joined Walt Disney Productions. His designs were featured in the "Ave Maria" and "Night on Bald Mountain" sequences of Fantasia, but his popularity decreased because of a shift in taste from fantasy to realism and naturalism. He did some drawings for a version of The Little Mermaid, a film that had to wait almost 50 years to be made. Nielsen was given a posthumous screen credit as one of the designers. He died in 1957 in poverty. Since then his popularity is steadily growing. He was buried in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum acc to some info but removed according to the cemetery office, Kay Nielsen was cremated at their facility, but is not interred there.
Danish Golden Age illustrator. Kay (pronounced "kigh") was born in Copenhagen in the family of actors. Because of his parents' professional lives, he grew up surrounded by people of the Scandinavian theater, including such celebrities as Ibsen and Grieg. From 1904 to 1911 he studied art in Paris at Academies Julian and Colarossi. After service in the Royal Danish Guards, in 1911-1916, he worked in London for the "Tatler" and also illustrated many books. He was influenced from the start by the styles of Beardsley, Burne-Jones and the influx of Japanese art spreading to the West at this time. In 1936 he was invited to stage Max Reinhardt's Everyman at the Hollywood Bowl. Together with his wife, Ulla, he came to California where he joined Walt Disney Productions. His designs were featured in the "Ave Maria" and "Night on Bald Mountain" sequences of Fantasia, but his popularity decreased because of a shift in taste from fantasy to realism and naturalism. He did some drawings for a version of The Little Mermaid, a film that had to wait almost 50 years to be made. Nielsen was given a posthumous screen credit as one of the designers. He died in 1957 in poverty. Since then his popularity is steadily growing. He was buried in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum acc to some info but removed according to the cemetery office, Kay Nielsen was cremated at their facility, but is not interred there.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
