Eivind Nielsen (18 June 186413 July 1939) was a Norwegian painter, illustrator and teacher. He was born at

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

, Norway. He was the son of Byfogd Martin Nielsen (1823-1899) and Caroline Emilie Petersen (1830-1898). Nielsen was a student of

Hans Heyerdahl Hans Olaf Halvor Heyerdahl (8 July 1857 – 10 October 1913) was a Norwegian Realist painter. His work was characterized by naturalism and focused largely on portraits and landscape paintings. Biography Heyerdahl was born in Smedjebacken, Swede ...

and started at the

Knud Bergslien Knud Larsen Bergslien (15 May 1827 – 27 November 1908) was a Norwegian painter, art teacher and master artist. In his art, he frequently portrayed the lives of the Norwegian people, their history and heroes of the past. Bergslien is most associ ...

art school in Christiania (now Oslo) in 1880. He studied in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

until 1883. From 1885 to 1888, he was a student at the

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry The National College of Art and Design ( no, Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole) was established in 1818. In 1996 the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts The Oslo National Academy of the A ...

. His breakthrough as illustrator was the children's book ''Norsk Billedbog for Børn'' (Kristiania : L.E. Tvedtes Forlag) by Elling Holst from 1888, which is regarded as the first colored picture book in Norway. The book became widely popular and has been reprinted numerous times (the 17th edition was issued in 1998). He also illustrated the sequels from 1890 and 1903. The main subjects were naturalistic produced but kept separate by an ornamental framework, usually in the form of tree roots or other organic shapes. In total he illustrated 38 books. He is also known for his ceiling decorations in the

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiani ...

. He was a teacher at the

from 1890 to 1934. In 1899, he received a state scholarship and went on study tours to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He received the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold upon his retirement in 1934.

Gallery

File:Liden ekorn sad.png, Little squirrel sitting (''Norsk Billedbog for børn'') Image:Freidig did som fuglen flyr.png, Bold did the bird fly
(''Norsk Billedbog for børn'') File:Haanden vil jeg dyppe ned.jpg, Dipping her hand down (''Norsk Billedbog for børn'') File:Snart de vokste op.png, Squirrel in tree (''Norsk Billedbog for børn'') File:Haa vil du med ljaa.png, What do you want with a scythe
(''Norsk Billedbog for børn'') File:Alle tre som en.png, All three leaping
(''Norsk Billedbog for børn'')

References

1864 births 1939 deaths People from Haugesund Norwegian illustrators 19th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold 19th-century Norwegian male artists 20th-century Norwegian male artists {{Norway-painter-stub