Nans van Leeuwen
Nans van Leeuwen | |
---|---|
Born | Ferdinanda Emilia van Leeuwen 23 December 1900 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Died | 1 January 1995 Rotterdam, Netherlands | (aged 94)
Nationality | Dutch |
Alma mater | Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten |
Known for | Children's book illustrations |
Notable work | "Piggelmee" books |
Nans van Leeuwen (23 December 1900 – 1 January 1995) was a prolific Dutch illustrator and author of children's books.[1]
Life
Ferdinanda Emilia 'Nans' van Leeuwen was born in Amsterdam, the daughter of Klaas van Leeuwen, a painter and teacher. She graduated from the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) in Amsterdam in 1922.[2] She moved to Rotterdam, where she taught at a girls' school from 1922 to 1962.[2]
She began illustrating children's books in the 1920s for other authors, and she eventually began to write and illustrate her own books. She is best known as the illustrator of a series of children's books featuring a goblin named Piggelmee that were published as a form of advertising by the Van Nelle coffee company in the 1930s and 1940s.[2] The first of the Piggelmee books, Het tovervisje (Witchcraft, 1949), was based on a story by the Brothers Grimm.[3] Following this came De wonderschelp (The Wonder Shells, 1950), which was written in verse, and De Baas van Bos en Duin (The Boss of Forest and Dune, 1951).[3]
Her career spanned three decades, with her last work being published in the late 1950s.[4] Her style ranged from one that was strongly linear and akin to that of illustrators such as Maginel Wright Enright, Rie Cramer, and Mabel Betsy Hill to a softer style built on color washes.
Illustrated works
Written by van Leeuwen
- Sneeuwpret (Snow Fun)
- Sinterklaas is jarig (Sinter Klaas is a Year Old)
- Schoonmaak bij de muisjes (Cleaning at the Mouse House)
- De muizen gaan verhuizen! (The Mice Are Moving!)
- De sneeuwman van Jaap en Jetje (The Snowmen of Jaap and Jetje)
- Lotje in luilekkerland (Lotje in Good Luck Land)
- Het verdwaalde eendje (The Lost Duckling)
- Het feest van de tuinkabouter (The Gardener's Party)
- A Rainy Day (1950)
- Moeder Muis houdt grote schoonmaak (published in English as Spring Cleaning with Mrs. Mouse, 1950)
Written by other authors
- Bobtail's Adventure by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- Change Penny by Geertruida Vladeracken
- Die kinderen van de grote fjeld (The Children of the Great Mountain) by Laura Fitinghoff
- Die toverende tweeling (The Devout Twins) by Tiny Broekman (1958)
- Pussy-cat School by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- The Animal Ski School by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- The Happy Gnomes by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- The Naughty Clown by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- The Naughty Harlequin by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- The Nightingale by Maggy Larissa (1965)
- The Toy Bear's Train by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- The Woman in the Moon by Maggy Larissa (1963)
- The Goblin Party (1963)
- The Happy Tale of Monty Mouse (1969)
- Who Else Reads to Me? by Geertruida Vladeracken
References
- ^ Saskia de Bodt, Jeroen Kapelle et al. Prentenboeken. Ideologie en illustratie 1890-1950. Amsterdam/Gent: Ludion, 2003, pp. 244-45. (in Dutch)
- ^ a b c "Nans van Leeuwen". Lambiek Comiclopedia, updated April 8, 2012.
- ^ a b "Nans van Leeuwen". Museum Woning. (in Dutch)
- ^ "Nans van Leeuwen". Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlands lette. (in Dutch)
- 1900 births
- 1995 deaths
- Artists from Amsterdam
- Dutch children's book illustrators
- Dutch children's writers
- Dutch women children's writers
- Dutch comics artists
- Dutch female comics artists
- Dutch illustrators
- Dutch women illustrators
- Writers from Amsterdam
- Writers who illustrated their own writing
- 20th-century Dutch women artists