The Nightingale 

Kay Nielsen’s “The Nightingale” reflects the artist’s love of fairytales and the decorative style popular at the turn of the century. The image is of a fairytale princess standing beneath a willow tree while looking out at a figure in a boat. Nielsen, a Danish illustrator, found inspiration in the exoticism of the East, which was fashionable at the time. The piece reflects an orientalist lens through which European artists viewed Asian cultures. The artist's unique, stylized figures and landscapes are also influenced by Art Nouveau. It is hard to ignore the cultural appropriation and the simplification of Asian culture that takes place in "The Nightingale". Nielsen struggled to find work later in his life because his style went out of fashion, and he died in poverty. This piece, however, is a reminder of the way fairytales can transport us to other worlds, even as we acknowledge the problematic ways that those worlds have been imagined.