Heinrich Kley (April 15, 1863 - unknown) was a German illustrator most known for his humorous and animated pen drawings. His art was a major inspiration for Walt Disney (who became a major collector of Kley’s work) and his animators. You can particularly see his influence in Fantasia’s Dance of the Hours but also Dumbo, the crocodile in Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, and many other movies.
Kley’s artistic ingenuity and technical mastery coupled with his playful - and sometimes dark - sense of humor let him talk about a huge range of topics. Society, culture, technology, and relationships between people were frequent subjects of his pen. Often, however, his fluid and free drawings just exist to make us laugh. An elephant gracefully dancing or mountain climbing alligators are just hilarious to see. Every animal or person is depicted with a playful energy that is accentuated with his sketchy style. Underpinning his wandering line work is technical mastery of the human and animal form.
There aren’t many collections of Kley’s work but I highly recommend The Drawings of Heinrich Kley published by Dover books. If you enjoy his work, the two volume set The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley is a more thorough collection that also includes his early illustration work and several of his paintings.
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The Drawings of Heinrich Kley
The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, Volume 1: Drawings
The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, Volume 2: Paintings & Sketches