Heinrich Kley (German1863-1945) often juxtaposed elegance and cruelty.
Like Arthur Rackham, his knowledge of anatomy and his fertile imagination inspired generations of artists in the early 20th century, including the Disney Studios.
According to one book: 
"In fact, Disney himself held up a book of Kley’s drawings during a television appearance and said that they were integral to the studio’s lessons and workshops for newly hired animators."
"In fact, Disney himself held up a book of Kley’s drawings during a television appearance and said that they were integral to the studio’s lessons and workshops for newly hired animators." |
| Shipyard painting by Heinrich Kley |
Best books on Heinrich Kley are:
The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, Volume 1: Drawings
The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, Volume 2: Paintings & Sketches
The Drawings of Heinrich Kley (Dover)
More Drawings by Heinrich Kley
Previous posts on Kley:
Heinrich Kley, "The Demons of Krupp"
More on those Kley/Krupp Devils
Review of the "Lost Art" books
5 comments:
Inspiring work! I'm glad to know about this artist.
Thanks for the update, James. Kley is such a seminal artist. His influence seeps into the work of so many artists — sometimes more than seeps. I recall the cover art to the Grateful Dead’s 1977 album, Terrapin Station. It featured a banjo-playing turtle and a tambourine-shaking turtle — direct copies from Kley’s sketchbook. This was right around the time I was learning about Kley from the first Dover publication.
I bought the "Drawings" and "More Drawings" books in the 1970's. It is correct that there is a dark side to some of his works. However, those downers are balanced by a great deal of whimsy and satire to make the viewer laugh. I still occasionally use his work to cheer me when things are bit blah.
I hadn't run into Kley before. His work is fabulous. Thank you for introducing me to him.
Nice post. Interesting images. Thanks for sharing the post
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