THEODOOR VAN HOYTEMA (1863-1917) "But winter past away at last…" Illustration intended for the first English edition of The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen with illustrations by Hoytema (Amsterdam: C. M. Van Gogh, 1896). Ink and watercolor on paper. 245x180 mm; 9 1/2x7 inches, on 11x7 1/2-inch sheet. Signed "T. van Hoytema" in lower left margin, dated "Jan 91" in upper left. Cornered to board with matte; framed.
The full caption reads "But winter past [sic] away at last and spring came back, and with spring the beautiful white birds." Hoytema first created this drawing for his first Dutch edition of Andersen's The Ugly Duckling, (published as Het leelijke jonge Eendje in 1893) and his breakthrough picture book. It shows the ugly duckling discovering that it is a handsome swan and joining the other birds in flight. The image reflects Hoytema's love of natural history, especially birds, and displays his skill of integrating his ornamental, stylized Art Nouveau imagery with text. This format and style allowed him to achieve a mastery of color lithography for both his picture books and a series of calendars produced between 1900 and 1917, for which he is generally best known.
