...The Fairy tales drawn on cardboard
In the period 1925-1930 you could find collectable stickers in packets of coffee substitute with illustrations of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. The illustrations were drawn by Hans Tegner (1853-1932) with pen and watercolors, printed on cardboard and published by the coffee substitute factory "Danmark". For each time you bought 500 grams of coffee substitute, you got a sticker, and at the grocer's you could buy an album in which to collect them. Consequently, you could collect 50 stickers in total with illustrations for fairy tales.
...The naval officer Vilhelm Pedersen (1820-1859) was the first illustrator of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales
As a part of the collaboration between the publisher Lorck in Germany and Hans Christian Andersen a complete illustrated edition of the poet’s fairy tales was planned. As illustrator Hans Christian Andersen recommended the hitherto unknown naval officer Vilhelm Pedersen. Vilhelm Pedersen, who died at an early age in 1859, illustrated 80 of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales and stories. His drawings were diligently copied to woodcuts, but unfortunately the delicate parts of the original drawings were lost. Pedersen’s line is well-known, and the soft and graceful illustrations go well with the tone in Andersen’s fairy tales.
The Gallery Passage
The gallery passage in The Hans Christian Andersen Museum shows a selection of the numerous beautiful illustrations there has been created for the works of the poet. Furthermore The gallery is used for changing special-exhibitions.
The Gallery Passage in The Hans Christian Andersen Museum
Hans Christian Andersen did not illustrate his works, although he was a true visual artist with words. The images that form when you read his fairy-tales are plenty, which is probably why ever since 1838 artists have derived inspiration from his works and illustrated them.
The gallery passage displays a small but exquisite selection of these works of art, from the earliest to the most recent.
Johannes Larsen: The Ugly Duckling (1930)
Picture to the left: Vilhelm Pedersen: The Ugly Duckling (1847-48)
Picture to the right: Salvador Dali: The Ugly Duckling (appr. 1965)