Else Wenz-Viëtor

Wenz‐Viëtor, Else (1882–1973), the most famous German illustrator of picture books for children during the 1920s and 1930s. She produced more than 100 books during a career that lasted until the early 1960s and provided illustrations for works written by popular authors such as Adolf Holst, Sophie Reinheimer, and Max Dingler. She also wrote her own texts. Wenz‐Viëtor's early illustrations with anthropomorphized animals and plants were influenced by the Jugendstil movement, but later she drew all creatures and flowers in a more natural style. Among her best fairy‐tale books are: Das Schlaraffenland (The Land of Milk and Honey, 1923), Märchen‐Ostern (An Easter Fairy Tale, 1927), and Das grosse Märchenbuch (The Great Fairy Tale Book, 1957). In addition, she drew illustrations for the classical authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm Hauff, Ludwig Bechstein, and Hans Christian Andersen with bright colours and cute characters that emphasized the cheerful and humorous aspects of the tales.

— Jack Zipes