… illustration, by Kay Nielson
This illustration is from The Book of Death, a series of drawings exhibited in London but never published in book form. Nielson went on to work for Disney Studios and was the art director for Fantasia, one of my favourite pieces of animation.
From The Book of Death, 1911, Kay Nielson
How appropriate for the spidery overlord!
I’ve never seen this particular artwork, though the art of Kay Nielsen has been a formative influence on my sense of aesthetics. The illustrations in East of the Sun, and West of the Moon are superb examples of art nouveau. I adored them as a wee child, and still love them as an aging Grammi.
Shades of old SF Book covers Art and echoes of the original War of the Worlds novel for me here.. Very cool.