Einar Nerman (6 October 1888 – 30 March 1983) was a Swedish artist known for his portraits, book and magazine illustrations and theatrical designs. Early life and education He grew up in a middle-class family in Norrköping with his twin brother, archeologist Birger Nerman, and older brother, Swedish Communist leader Ture Nerman. Their parents were Janne Emanuel Nerman and Ida Anna Adéle Nordberg. In 1905 Nerman dropped out of Norrköping Gymnasium High School and enrolled into the Konstnärsförbundets skola in Stockholm. In 1908 he went to Paris to study with Henri Matisse at the Academie Matisse and at the Académie Colarossi. In 1910 he published Artists which contained cartoons and caricatures. In 1912 he returned to Sweden to study music and dance at the drama school of Elin Svensson. The young artist exhibited with the male-only Avant-garde group "" (1907–1911), an association that defied the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. During the 1911 exhibition Nerman's drawings were shown alongside sculptures by Ivar Johnsson, graphics by Artur Sahlén, and miniatures by Fanny Falkner. He provided illustrations for "The Swineherd" (1912) by Hans Christian Andersen and "Gösta Berlings: pictures" (1916). He also illustrated the children's picture books Crow's Dream (1911), Stars (1913), and illustrations for the novel Short Cavalier stories (1918) by Selma Lagerlöf. In 1918 he met Ivor Novello in a night-club in Stockholm who suggested Nerman should draw the stars of the West End of London. In 1919 he visited London as a ballet dancer, performing in a variety at the London Coliseum. When he discovered that they were to tour the provincial music halls as well, he broke his contract and returned to Sweden. Career In 1921 Nerman moved to London to work on a weekly page of theatrical caricatures for The Tatler. He also submitted caricatures of musicians performing at the Royal Albert Hall and elsewhere to the fashionable magazine Eve: The Lady's Pictorial. When his friend Ivor Novello opened the "Fifty-fifty" club for theater people, Nerman was asked to decorate the walls. In 1923 he published the children's book Knight Finn Komfusenfej. In 1925 he collaborated with Christine Doorman on Selma Lagerlöf: her life and works in Mårbacka. He made the illustrations for the 1928 edition of Thumbelina, by Hans Christian Andersen. In 1929 he published Darlings of the gods: in music hall, revue, and musical comedy to compile his caricatures of theater stars featured in