An illustration by Kay Nielsen for a 1923 printing of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales has sold for £32,000 ($47,671).
The lot starred in a December 17 sale at Dominic Winter Auctions in South Cerney, UK.
 Nielsen was an acclaimed illustrator |
Nielsen (1886-1957) was a renowned illustrator who also created designs for the Brothers Grimm stories. He also worked at Disney, primarily as a concept artist although some of his work can be seen in Fantasia.
He left Disney in 1941 and returned home to Denmark, but found his style was out of fashion. He was a pauper for the rest of his life.
Chris Albury of Dominic Winter Auctions told the Guardian: "Fairytale watercolours by Nielsen rarely come on the market and we think that this is as good, or better, than any that have come up for sale in recent years.
"It's wonderfully translucent/vellucent and dripping in Chinese influence.
"Incredibly, Nielsen died in poverty and it's really another case of posthumous world recognition arriving too late to feed the hungry artist."
The sale also featured a letter sent from Virginia Woolf to a friend, urging him to go on living.
We have this strand of Hans Christian Andersen's hair for sale.
Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about book and manuscript auctions.
