Author: BAYNES. PAULINE. ( GRIMM. BROTHERS ). ?
Title: WATER COLOUR PAINTING OF HANSEL AND GRETEL. Illustration for Grimm
Description: Circa 1952. ORIGINAL FULL COLOUR ARTWORK. The image shows Hansel and Gretel stood in front of the Witch, who is holding her broomstick and has her black cat on her shoulder. In the background is the beautiful house covered in biscuits, cakes, sweets & icing. The painting is signed by Baynes in the bottom left corner. Image size is 9.2 x 7 inches. Mounted to give a total size of 16.1 x 13.5 inches. The reverse of the painting has Baynes' agents stamp in black ink. Framed and glazed in attractive maple frame. --- A beautiful painting by one of the great twentieth century book illustrators, best known for her work on C. S. Lewis' Narnia series and J. R. R Tolkien's Tom Bombadil, Farmer Giles of Ham and Smith of Wooton Major. --- Through a contact I had who knew Pauline Baynes I sent a copy of this painting to her shortly before she died to see if she could supply any more information. All she could remember was that she had painted it for the publishers Blackie in about 1949 or 1950 as part of a series of watercolours they commissioned for an edition of Grimm's fairy tales that was intended to be issued in the early 1950's. Despite intensive searches for some years I have not been able to find a copy of that 1950's edition either for sale or listed in a library and think it may never have been published in its fully illustrated form. I have seen a copy of a 1960's edition with only one full colour plate, Snow White, as the frontispiece. Other scenes painted by Baynes from Grimm stories illustrate the dustwrapper but not this image and Baynes is not credited as illustrator in the book or dustwrapper.

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