Mermaid paintings - different illustrations for the fairy tale The Little Mermaid. Illustrations for the fairy tale G

Fairy tale Hans Christian Andersen "The Little Mermaid" is one of the most romantic and tragic fairy tales. Which of the girls did not worry about the fate of the young beauty of the seas and oceans, in search of their happiness and their love. The fairy tale itself was written back in 1837, but the relevance and mysterious interest in it does not subside to this day. It has been filmed several times, both in film and animated format. Interest in the fairy tale stems, perhaps, from the initial oppositions with which the fairy tale itself is filled. Man is opposed to a mythical, fictitious creature. Moreover, the reader’s idea, based on thousand-year-old legends, of the mermaid as a creature that promises troubles, is contrasted with the gentle, kind, living, full of love the image of the girl that the author portrays.

Illustrating the fairy tale “The Little Mermaid,” starting almost from the very first editions, artists have always depicted her in the form of a young beautiful girl who immediately endears herself to young readers.

The Little Mermaid Eleanor Boel, 1872

One of the first illustrated British Mermaids to be seen by English readers was the 1872 Little Mermaid, drawn by an English female illustrator and writer of the Victorian era - Eleanor Vere Gordon Boyle. Boel's drawings are closer in style to the classic, one might even say magical realism. Realistic colors, clean bright faces, a little childish execution of the work itself, connected either with the artist’s skill or with the awareness that this is, after all, an illustration of a children’s book.

The Little Mermaid Helenn Stratton, 1896

The next Little Mermaid also belongs to the hand of an English artist and illustrator – Helen Isobel Mansfield Ramsey Stratton, published in 1896. Stratton's Little Mermaid is close to Tenniel's Alice in graphics and manner of execution. This is a classic graphic engraving, with fine detail and emphasis on important narrative points.

The Little Mermaid by Edmund Dulac, 1911

The Little Mermaid by French illustrator Edmund Dulac, published in 1911. Dulac's Little Mermaid is executed in the tradition of the early 20th century, in the Art Deco style. And this is, first of all, the color variety and richness of the elements; the image of the Little Mermaid herself is stylistically intertwined with the images of Alfred Mucha and Gustav Klimt. But at the same time, she remains the embodiment of youth and purity.

The Little Mermaid by Wanda Zeigner-Ebel, 1923

The Little Mermaid from 1923 by German illustrator Wanda Zeigner-Ebel. In her works, Wanda uses a very interesting contrasting combination of colors, placing accents with color. Wanda's little mermaid may not look as sophisticated as in the works of other authors, she is captured in a moment of surprise and confusion, which makes her image a little childishly aggressive.

The Little Mermaid by Takeo Takei, 1928

The Little Mermaid 1928, Japanese illustrator Takeo Takei. Takeo Chiakei is one of the most influential children's illustrators in Japan; he was the first to create highly professional illustrations specifically for children's books, believing that a child should be brought up with quality work. Such works are made in the style of engraving, in a more rigid angular design.

Joyce Mercer's Little Mermaid, 1935

Another graphic Little Mermaid, 1935, performed by the English illustrator Joyce Mercer. From the very beginning, critics noted Joyce's work as original, original work, wonderful color drawings and black and white drawings filled with subtle humor. Joyce's Little Mermaid lines are extremely elegant and calligraphic. Especially when it comes to vignettes, with their sense of balance, consistency of character and concentration of lines of work.

The Little Mermaid by Elena Gurtik, 1950

The Little Mermaid of 1950, made by a Russian artist and illustrator who worked in France, Helene Guertik. The artist uses a very interesting effect of juxtaposition of oppositions, using only two colors. The face of the Little Mermaid herself is not visible, but her silhouette, her location and presentation fill her with a special, refined meaning.

The Little Mermaid by Valery Alfeevsky, 1955

The Little Mermaid, familiar to us from childhood, performed by Soviet illustrator Valery Alfeevsky, 1955. This is another graphic Little Mermaid, however, in Alfeevsky’s works she looks a little childish. The works themselves are easy to understand, a little angular and grotesque.

The Little Mermaid Jiri Trnka, 1966

The Little Mermaid 1966, performed by Jiri Trnka, a Czech illustrator. Perhaps this Little Mermaid will seem familiar to you, because Trnka himself is one of the first Czech animators and the imagery of his illustrations, naturally, left its mark on his cartoon characters. Jiri himself began as a painter and sculptor, which gives his children's illustrations a touch of adult approach.

The Little Mermaid by Rachel Isadora, 1998

Sensual Little Mermaid 1998, American artist illustrator Rachel Isadora. The little mermaid Isadora is sensual, tender, sophisticatedly youthful, and in some illustrations she looks childishly naive and sweet. The reader immediately feels sympathy and sympathy for her.

The Little Mermaid by Boris Diodorov, 1998

Another little mermaid from 1998, performed by Russian artist Boris Diodorov. This is a rather complex, multi-layered illustration, with a large number of elements and patterns worked out. Diodorov's Little Mermaid is inherently decorative.

The Little Mermaid Niki Goltz, 2003

The Little Mermaid of the early 21st century, 2003 edition, by Russian artist and illustrator Nika Golts. Raised in the family of an architect, theater artist and graphic artist Georgy Golts, Nika and youth absorbed a sense of color, light and composition. The Little Mermaid Goltz looks even more youthful and naive. The illustrator constantly places a light emphasis on the main character, which creates the effect of an internal constant glow in the Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid by Christian Birmingham, 2009

The Little Mermaid 2009, performed by the popular contemporary British illustrator Christian Birmingham. After graduating from art college in 1991, Christian immediately signed a contract to design children's books. The Little Mermaid Christiana is made in the classical canonical traditions of realism, she is aristocratically sophisticated and gentle.

The Little Mermaid by Gabriel Pacheco, 2009

The Gloomy Little Mermaid by contemporary Mexican illustrator Gabriel Pacheco, 2009 Pacheco’s first illustrated book was literary work his sisters. Today he is a quite popular book illustrator. The artist himself calls Bosch and Marc Chagall his main inspirations and teachers in painting. The main color of all Pacheco’s works, not excluding the Little Mermaid, is the entire palette of gray, which contrasts or combines with other colors. Pacheco is unique in his ability to combine precise, sharp lines with soft, faded backgrounds. These are surreal illustrations based on symbolism.

The Little Mermaid by Arthur Rackham, 2011

The Little Mermaid 2011, performed by English illustrator Arthur Rackham. To illustrate his Little Mermaid, Arthur chose several stylistic devices. These are graphics, in their usual execution, and graphics, stylistically reminiscent of shadow theater, or the familiar principle of “vytynanok”, and watercolors, but all illustrations are subordinated to a single stylistic direction - modernism.

The Little Mermaid by Anton Lomaev, 2012

The Little Mermaid of 2012, well known to Russian readers, was performed by the young St. Petersburg illustrator Anton Lomaev. This is a bright illustration, worked out to the smallest detail, with a large number of patterns and decorative elements. The image of the Little Mermaid herself is depicted as the image of a young sea beauty, cheerful and bright

The Little Mermaid by Vladimir Nenov, 2012

We conclude our underwater excursion with another Little Mermaid from 2012, made by Russian illustrator Vladimir Nenov. Nenov began as a studio portrait painter, which makes his characters quite expressive, and his long work and collaboration with an American publishing house brought elements of puppetry to the image of the Little Mermaid herself. Mermaid Nenova looks like a typical Barbie doll, a beautiful blonde, with regular facial features.

All Mermaids are characterized by the growth of their image. At the beginning of the story, she is an innocent, young, childishly naive girl who looks at the world with open, thirsty and love-seeking eyes. She is the very embodiment of purity and it seems to her that everyone around her treats the world and her as she does. At the end of the story, this is a girl who consciously goes to death for the sake of her loved one. She understood her own truth and her image is transformed into the image, so to speak, of a sage, an image of sacrifice and self-denial.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin - an outstanding Russian artist, master book graphics and theatrical and decorative arts. His illustrations for Russians gained particular popularity. folk tales and epics, to the fairy tales of A.S. Pushkin, recreating the colorful world of Russian antiquity and folklore. Using decorative techniques of Old Russian and folk art embroideries, popular prints, icons, the artist created his own “Bilibinsky” graphic handwriting.

In 1925, the artist came from Egypt to France, where he continued to develop his style, which became known abroad as the “Russian Style”. In France, Bilibin begins to collaborate with the Flammarion publishing house, which published several books with his illustrations. In particular, in the series "Albums du Rege Castor" Albums of Father Beaver, three fairy tales were published: "The Flying Carpet", "The Little Mermaid" and "The Tale of the Goldfish" by A.S. Pushkin.

Work for "Flammarion" became a new stage of creativity for Bilibin. In each of the three books, he begins to skillfully combine both color and black and white drawings. The third book with his illustrations in the “Papa Beaver” series was “The Little Mermaid”; it was published in 1937.

It is these illustrations that are included with maximum accuracy in the edition of the fairy tale about the Little Mermaid. These works are perceived as an example of a belated echo of Art Nouveau graphics. Looking at them, readers can fully feel the soft swaying of the Little Mermaid’s hair in the water and appreciate the masterful depiction of the inhabitants of the sea: octopuses, starfish and sea anemones. “Land” black and white illustrations are designed in a more strict manner. They no longer have decorative curves and soft flowing lines.

artist Vladimir Nenov

Publishing house "Rosman" 2012

With the publication of excerpts from the fairy tale

Far out in the sea, the water is blue, blue, like the petals of the most beautiful cornflowers, and transparent, transparent, like the purest glass, only it is very deep, so deep that no anchor rope is enough. Many bell towers must be placed one on top of the other, then only the top one will appear on the surface. There are underwater people living at the bottom.

Just don’t think that the bottom is bare, just white sand. No, unprecedented trees and flowers grow there with such flexible stems and leaves that they move, as if alive, at the slightest movement of water. And fish, large and small, scurry between the branches, just like the birds in the air above us. In the deepest place stands the palace of the sea king - its walls are made of coral, tall lancet windows are made of the purest amber, and the roof is entirely shells; they open and close, depending on the ebb or flow of the tide, and this is very beautiful, because each one contains shining pearls and any one would be a great decoration in the crown of the queen herself.

In front of the palace there was a large garden, in which fiery red and dark blue trees grew, their fruits sparkled with gold, their flowers sparkled with hot fire, and their stems and leaves swayed incessantly. The ground was entirely fine sand, only bluish, like a sulfur flame. Everything down there had a special blue feel to it—you could almost think that you were standing not on the bottom of the sea, but in the heights of the air, and the sky was not only above your head, but also under your feet. When there was no wind, you could see the sun from the bottom, it seemed like a purple flower from whose bowl light was pouring.

Each princess had her own place in the garden, here they could dig and plant anything. One made herself a flower bed in the shape of a whale, another decided to make her bed look like a mermaid, and the youngest made herself a bed as round as the sun, and planted flowers on it as scarlet as the sun itself. This little mermaid was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful. The other sisters decorated themselves with various varieties that were found on sunken ships, but she only loved that flowers were bright red, like the sun, up there, and even a beautiful marble statue. He was a beautiful boy, carved from pure white stone and descended to the bottom of the sea after a shipwreck. Near the statue, the little mermaid planted a pink weeping willow; it grew luxuriantly and hung its branches over the statue to the blue sandy bottom, where a purple shadow was formed, swaying in harmony with the swaying of the branches, and from this it seemed as if the top and roots were caressing each other.

At this point the little mermaid realized the danger that threatened people - she herself had to dodge logs and debris rushing along the waves. For a minute it became dark, almost like an eye-hole, but then lightning flashed, and the little mermaid again saw the people on the ship. Everyone saved themselves as best they could. She looked for the prince and saw him fall into the water as the ship fell apart. At first she was very happy - after all, he would now fall to her bottom, but then she remembered that people cannot live in water and he would sail to her father’s palace only dead. No, no, he must not die! And she swam between the logs and boards, not at all thinking that they could crush her. She dived deeply, then flew up onto the wave and finally swam to the young prince. He was almost completely exhausted and could not swim on the stormy sea. His arms and legs refused to serve him, his beautiful eyes closed, and he would have drowned if the little mermaid had not come to his aid. She lifted his head above the water and let the waves carry them both wherever they wanted...

By morning the storm had subsided. There wasn't even a sliver left of the ship. The sun sparkled over the water again and seemed to return color to the prince’s cheeks, but his eyes were still closed.

The little mermaid brushed the hair off the prince’s forehead, kissed his high, beautiful forehead, and it seemed to her that he looked like the marble boy standing in her garden. She kissed him again and wished him to live.

Finally she saw land, high blue mountains, on the tops of which the snow was white, like a flock of swans. Near the very shore there were wonderful green forests, and in front of them stood either a church or a monastery - she couldn’t say for sure, she only knew that it was a building. There were orange and lemon trees in the garden, and tall palm trees near the gate. The sea jutted out into the shore here as a small bay, quiet but very deep, with a cliff near which the sea had washed up fine white sand. It was here that the little mermaid sailed with the prince and laid him on the sand so that his head was higher in the sun.

Then the bells rang in the tall white building, and a whole crowd of young girls poured into the garden. The little mermaid swam away behind the high stones sticking out of the water, covered her hair and chest with sea foam, so that now no one would distinguish her face, and began to wait to see if anyone would come to the aid of the poor prince.

Soon a young girl approached the cliff and at first she was very frightened, but she immediately gathered her courage and called other people, and the little mermaid saw that the prince had come to life and smiled at everyone who was near him. But he didn’t smile at her, he didn’t even know that she saved his life. The little mermaid felt sad, and when the prince was taken to a large building, she sadly dived into the water and swam home.

Now she became even quieter, even more thoughtful than before. The sisters asked her what she saw for the first time on the surface of the sea, but she did not tell them anything.

Often in the mornings and evenings she sailed to the place where she had left the prince.

Now the little mermaid knew where the prince lived, and began to swim to the palace almost every evening or every night. None of the sisters dared to swim so close to the land, but she even swam into the narrow channel, which passed just under the marble balcony, which cast a long shadow on the water. Here she stopped and looked at the young prince for a long time, but he thought that he was walking alone in the light of the moon.

Many times she saw him riding with musicians on his elegant boat, decorated with waving flags. The little mermaid looked out from the green reeds, and if people sometimes noticed how her long silver-white veil fluttered in the wind, it seemed to them that it was a swan splashing its wings.

Many times she heard fishermen talking about the prince, catching fish at night with a torch; they told a lot of good things about him, and the little mermaid was glad that she saved his life when he, half-dead, was carried along the waves; she remembered how his head rested on her chest and how tenderly she kissed him then. But he didn’t know anything about her, he couldn’t even dream of her!

The little mermaid began to love people more and more, she was drawn more and more to them; their earthly world seemed to her much larger than her underwater one; After all, they could sail across the sea on their ships, climb high mountains above the clouds, and their countries with forests and fields spread out so wide that you couldn’t even see them with your eyes! The little mermaid really wanted to know more about people, about their lives, but the sisters could not answer all her questions, and she turned to her grandmother: the old woman knew well the “high society,” as she rightly called the land that lay above the sea.

If people don’t drown, asked the little mermaid, then they live forever, don’t die, like us?

What are you doing! - answered the old woman. - They also die, their life is even shorter than ours. We live for three hundred years; only when we cease to be, we are not buried, we don’t even have graves, we simply turn into sea foam.

“I would give all my hundreds of years for one day of human life,” said the little mermaid.

Nonsense! There is no need to even think about it! - said the old woman. - We live much better here than people on earth!

This means that I too will die, become sea foam, will no longer hear the music of the waves, will not see either wonderful flowers or the red sun! Is there really no way I can live among people?

You can, - said the grandmother, - just let one of the people love you so much that you become dearer to him than his father and mother, let him give himself to you with all his heart and all his thoughts, make you his wife and swear eternal fidelity. But this will never happen! After all, what we consider beautiful - your fish tail, for example - people find ugly. They don't know anything about beauty; in their opinion, in order to be beautiful, you must certainly have two clumsy supports, or legs, as they call them.

The little mermaid took a deep breath and sadly looked at her fish tail.

Let's live - don't bother! - said the old woman. - Let's have fun to our heart's content, three hundred years is a long time...

“And you must pay me for my help,” said the witch. - And I won’t take it cheap! You have a wonderful voice, and you think to charm the prince with it, but you must give this voice to me. I will take the best you have for my priceless drink: after all, I must mix my own blood into the drink so that it becomes as sharp as a sword blade.

Your lovely face, your smooth gait and your talking eyes - this is enough to conquer the human heart! Well, don’t be afraid: stick out your tongue, and I’ll cut it off in payment for the magic drink!

Fine! - said the little mermaid, and the witch put a cauldron on the fire to brew a drink.

Cleanliness is the best beauty! - she said and wiped the cauldron with a bunch of live snakes.

Then she scratched her chest; Black blood dripped into the cauldron, and soon clouds of steam began to rise, taking on such bizarre shapes that it was simply terrifying. The witch constantly added new and new drugs to the cauldron, and; When the drink boiled, it gurgled as if a crocodile was crying. Finally the drink was ready; it looked like the clearest spring water.

Take it! - said the witch, giving the little mermaid the drink.

Then she cut out her tongue, and the little mermaid became mute - she could no longer sing or speak.

A handsome prince stood in front of her and looked at her in surprise. She looked down and saw that the fish tail had disappeared, and in its place she had two small white legs. But she was completely naked and therefore wrapped herself in her long, thick hair. The prince asked who she was and how she got here, but she only looked at him meekly and sadly with her dark blue eyes: she couldn’t speak. Then he took her hand and led her to the palace. The witch said the truth: every step caused the little mermaid such pain, as if she were walking on sharp knives and needles; but she patiently endured the pain and walked hand in hand with the prince easily, as if walking through the air. The prince and his retinue only marveled at her wonderful, smooth gait.

The little mermaid was dressed in silk and muslin, and she became the first beauty at court, but she remained mute and could neither sing nor speak. One day, slave girls dressed in silk and gold were called to the prince and his royal parents. They began to sing, one of them sang especially well, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at her. The little mermaid felt sad: once upon a time she could sing, and much better! “Oh, if only he knew that I had given up my voice forever, just to be near him!”

Then the girls began to dance to the sounds of the most wonderful music; here the little mermaid raised her beautiful white hands, stood on tiptoe and rushed in a light, airy dance; No one has danced like that before! Every movement emphasized her beauty, and her eyes spoke more to the heart than the singing of slaves.

Everyone was delighted, especially the prince; he called the little mermaid his little foundling, and the little mermaid danced and danced, although every time her feet touched the ground, she felt as much pain as if she were walking on sharp knives. The prince said that "she should always be near him, and she was allowed to sleep on a velvet pillow in front of the door of his room.

One night her sisters emerged from the water hand in hand and sang a sad song; She nodded to them, they recognized her and told her how she had upset them all. Since then, they visited her every night, and once she saw in the distance even her old grandmother, who had not risen from the water for many years, and the king of the sea himself with a crown on his head, they stretched out their hands to her, but did not dare to swim to the ground as close as sisters.

===========================

We gave our hair to the witch so that she could help us save you from death! And she gave us this knife - see how sharp it is? Before the sun rises, you must thrust it into the heart of the prince, and when his warm blood splashes on your feet, they will again grow together into a fish tail and you will again become a mermaid, go down to our sea and live your three hundred years before you turn into salty sea foam. But hurry! Either he or you - one of you must die before the sun rises. Kill the prince and return to us! Hurry up. Do you see a red stripe appearing in the sky? Soon the sun will rise and you will die!

Day by day, the prince became more and more attached to the little mermaid, but he loved her only as a sweet, kind child, and it never occurred to him to make her his wife and princess, and yet she had to become his wife, otherwise, if If he gave his heart and hand to another, she would become sea foam.

“Do you love me more than anyone in the world?” - the little mermaid’s eyes seemed to ask when the prince hugged her and kissed her forehead.

Yes, I love you! - said the prince. - At your place kind heart, you are more devoted to me than anyone and look like a young girl whom I saw once and, probably, will never see again! I was sailing on a ship, the ship sank, the waves threw me ashore near some temple where young girls serve God; the youngest of them found me on the shore and saved my life; I saw her only twice, but she was the only one in the whole world I could love! You look like her and have almost driven her image out of my heart. It belongs to the holy temple, and my lucky star sent you to me; I will never part with you!

"Alas! He doesn't know that I saved his life! - thought the little mermaid. “I carried him out of the sea waves to the shore and laid him in a grove, near the temple, and I myself hid in the sea foam and watched to see if anyone would come to his aid. I saw this one beautiful girl, whom he loves more than me! - And the little mermaid sighed deeply, she could not cry. - But that girl belongs to the temple, will never return to the world, and they will never meet! I am near him, I see him every day, I can look after him, love him, give my life for him!”

IN last time She looked at the prince with half-extinguished gaze, rushed from the ship into the sea and felt her body dissolve into foam.

The sun rose over the sea; its rays lovingly warmed the deathly cold sea foam, and the little mermaid did not feel death; she saw the clear sun and some transparent, wonderful creatures hovering above her in hundreds. Through them she saw the white sails of the ship and the pink clouds in the sky; their voice sounded like music, but so sublime that the human ear would not have heard it, just as human eyes could not see them. They had no wings, but they flew in the air, light and transparent. The little mermaid noticed that she too became the same after breaking away from the sea foam.

Who am I going to? - she asked, rising in the air, and her voice sounded like the same wondrous music.

To the daughters of the air! - the air creatures answered her. - We fly everywhere and try to bring joy to everyone. In hot countries, where people die from the sultry, plague-ridden air, we bring coolness. We spread the fragrance of flowers in the air and bring healing and joy to people... Fly with us to the transcendental world! There you will find love and happiness that you have not found on earth.

And the little mermaid stretched out her transparent hands to the sun and for the first time felt tears in her eyes.

During this time, everything on the ship began to move again, and the little mermaid saw the prince and his young wife looking for her. They looked sadly at the wavering sea foam, as if they knew that the little mermaid had thrown herself into the waves. Invisible, the little mermaid kissed the beauty on the forehead, smiled at the prince and ascended along with other children of the air to the pink clouds floating in the sky.

Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" is a sad but bright fairy tale about unrequited love, sacrifice in its name and true fidelity.

Watercolor illustrations by Moscow artist Natalya Leonova, a graduate of the Moscow State Academy of Arts. V.I. Surikov, book illustration workshop.

“All six princesses were very pretty mermaids, but the best of all was the youngest, tender and transparent, like a rose petal, with deep blue eyes like the sea.”

“No one was drawn more to the surface of the sea than the youngest, quiet, thoughtful little mermaid, who had to wait the longest. How many nights did she spend at the open window, peering into the blue of the sea, where whole schools of fish moved their fins and tails!"

“Cleanliness is the best beauty!” she said and wiped the cauldron with a bunch of live snakes. Then she scratched her chest; black blood dripped into the cauldron, and soon clouds of steam began to rise, taking on such bizarre shapes that she was simply afraid. a cauldron of new and new potions, and when the drink boiled, it gurgled as if a crocodile was crying. Finally, the drink was ready, it looked like the clearest spring water!

“Everyone was delighted, especially the prince, he called the little mermaid his little foundling, and the little mermaid danced and danced, although every time her feet touched the ground, she was in pain as if she were walking on sharp knives.”

“On a clear moonlit night, when everyone except the helmsman was asleep, she sat down at the very edge and began to look into the transparent waves; and it seemed to her that she saw her father’s palace; the old grandmother in a silver crown stood on the tower and looked through the wavering streams of water on the keel of the ship. Then her sisters floated to the surface of the sea; they looked at her sadly and wrung their white hands, and she nodded her head to them, smiled and wanted to tell them how good she was here, but then the ship’s cabin boy approached her, and the sisters dived into the water, but the cabin boy thought that it was white sea foam flashing in the waves.”

“The little mermaid looked at her greedily and could not help but admit that she had never seen a sweeter and more beautiful face. The skin on the princess’s face was so soft and transparent, and from behind her long dark eyelashes her meek blue eyes smiled.”