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

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

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, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

, Norway. He was the son of '' byfogd'' (bailiff) 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, Swed ...

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 asso ...

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

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

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 () was established in 1818. In 1996, the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts (''Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo'', KHiO), along with the Norwegian National Academy of ...

. His breakthrough as illustrator was the children's book (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 depicted naturalistically 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 National Theatre. He was a teacher at the

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

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

References

1864 births 1939 deaths People from Haugesund 19th-century Norwegian illustrators 19th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian illustrators 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 Norwegian children's book illustrators Norwegian art educators {{Norway-painter-stub