Erik Nitsche (Swiss, 1908 - 1998) "Hansel and Gretel" Signed lower right. Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the German 80pf Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm stamp issued January 1, 1985. Known as the fathers of German philology, and publishers of the beloved Grimm's Fairy Tales, the brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm contributed enormously to Germany's literary heritage. In 1812, the Grimm brothers published their first collection of tales, entitled Kinder- und Hausmarchen (Tales of Children and the Home.) The stories included had been collected from peasants and villagers and then put into literary form by Wilhelm. In addition to this work, the brothers edited other bits of folklore and primitive literature they uncovered. This work led to the publication of two volumes of Deutsche Sagen (German Legends) between 1816 and 1818. Their studies of folklore naturally led the Grimms to develop an interest in the relationship of the ancient German language with the modern. In 1819, the first edition of Jakob's Deutsche Grammatik (German Grammer) was published and later editions followed. In addition to this work, the brothers began work to show relationships between similar words from different languages. The rules they formulated of such relationships became known as Grimm's Law. In 1854, the brothers published the first volume of their German Dictionary which contained nearly two thousand pages and got only as far as the letter B. The project took over one hundred years to complete and included sixteen volumes. Of course, it was finished by later scholars. Image Size: 12 x 14 in. Overall Size: 15 x 20 in. Unframed. (B09299)