Friday, March 28, 2014

"The Dancing School" by Heinrich Kley



Long before Fantasia, alligators danced.

In 1912, Heinrich Kley (1863-1945) drew "The Dancing School," a series of comic panels for Simplicissimus, a weekly newspaper. Regardless of your proficiency with German, you can still look at these stunning pen and ink drawings of an alligator and an elephant learning to dance. 

We had a couple of oversized books of Kley drawings when I was a kid. They were wonderful things to look at. The guy had chops. He knew the anatomy so well that he could, very convincingly, depict these animals participating in incongruous endeavors. 

Get over to the Yesterday's Paper's blog for a complete look at these pages.

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