Johanna Maria ("Jenny") Lind (1820–1887) and Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875)

ca. 1843–1850

Black ink with touches of white gouache on beige paper

Image: 8 1/2 x 8 in. ( 21.6 x 20.3 cm )
Framed: 15 5/8 × 12 1/2 × 1/2 in. (39.7 × 31.8 × 1.3 cm)

INV.4153

Jenny Lind, the Swedish opera singer, was among the first international celebrities. She performed in soprano roles across Europe. Touring Denmark in 1843, she met Hans Christian Andersen, who fell in love with her. Although the two became good friends, she did not reciprocate his romantic feelings. Andersen wrote The Nightingale as an expression of his passion for Lind, and it became the inspiration for her nickname the “Swedish Nightingale.” In 1850, at the invitation of P. T. Barnum, Lind undertook a popular concert tour of the U.S. The scene of Andersen and Lind lighting a Christmas tree has a narrative dimension alluding to their friendship.

DescriptionSilhouette: Full-length male and female figures on either side of a small Christmas tree supported on a table; black ink on cream paper

MarkingsPrinted on front: "Jenny Lind was admired by Hans Christian / Andersen. In Berlin, 1845, he expected to be invited to spend Christmas Eve with her. Be- / cause of his popularity, she supposed he would / have many invitations and refrained from asking / him. / When she learned he was depressed because / of spending the holiday alone, she invited him / to light a tree with her on New Year's Eve / and 'have Christmas all over again.'"

ClassificationsDRAWINGS