Photo Gallery The Grimm Brothers' Cultural Legacy
"Grimms' Fairy Tales" haven't just had a massive impact on literature, they are also an inspiration to visual artists. In honor of the stories' 200th anniversary, publisher Taschen released a compilation of newly translated tales, complete with vintage illustrations from the 1820s to 1950s. Here, Czech illustrator Divica Landrová's 1959 interpretation of "Little Red Riding Hood."
Noel Daniel, editor of Taschen's "The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm," went to archives around the world to find the illustrations in the book, finding countless versions and interpretations of the tales. "These stories continue to be an important source of inspiration not only for children, but for adults and also artists," she says. Here, Swiss artist Herbert Leupin's 1946 illustration of the castle in "Sleeping Beauty."
The tale of "Cinderella," pictured here by German artist Hanns Anker around 1910, is one of the Grimms best-loved tales. Many of the tales have been "sanitized" over the years, says Daniel. But in the Grimms' final 1857 edition of their stories, the version used by Taschen, grisly details still remain. Cinderella's ugly step sisters, for example, cut off their toes to fit into her tiny slipper, and then have their eyes pecked out by birds.
"The early history of the fairy tales themselves runs parallel to advancements in the book industry," says Daniel. "Artists gravitated to these tales as visual inspiration." This image shows the rustic interpretation of German illustrator Wanda Zeigner-Ebel in 1911.
"The human psychology in these tales fascinates people," says Daniel. "There are different sides of good and evil, kind and unkind, beautiful and ugly and every shade in between." Here, "The Hare and the Hedgehog," created in 1855 by German illustrator Gustav Süs, considered to be one of the most important of the 19th century.
This fanciful illustration by Victor P. Mohn shows the pivotal scen in "The Star Coins," also commonly known as "The Star Money," in which a poor but kind girl is magically rewarded for her generosity. According to Grimm expert Jack Zipes, part of these stories' appeal is that the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. "There will always be justice," he says.
Taschen's 2011 publication of the fairy tales appears in six languages.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm began collecting their fairy tales in 1806, and published the first edition in 1812. They were pioneers in the scholarly documentation of folklore.
More than 150 events are planned for the 200th anniversary in the German state of Hesse, where the Grimms began gathering their fairy tales. The Brothers Grimm Museum in Kassel, shown here, is running a special exhibition on their legacy.
Visitors will find this handwritten edition of the "Kinder- und Hausmärchen," or "Children's and Household Tales," at the museum in Kassel. The portrait shows farmer and storyteller Dorothea Viehmann, who told the Grimms a number of the tales that appeared in their work.
These rare pop-up versions of the fairy tales are also on display at the Brothers Grimm Museum.
An old woman peeks out of a home decorated with scenes from Grimms fairy tales in Steinau, where the brothers spent their youth.
There have been countless interpretations of the tales, such as Walt Disney's beloved 1937 film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
Just this year, the tale was retold again in a version geared toward adults and teens, "Snow White and the Huntsman," starring Kristen Stewart.
In 2010, Disney created its version of the Rapunzel story with "Tangled." Disney has made a fortune producing such films, but Grimm scholar Jack Zipes says that they are irresponsible interpretations. "They are simplistic, highly sexist, somewhat racist and stupid," he says.
