The Nutcracker
Written by Karen Kain

Paintings by Rajka Kupesic

Marie, her brother Misha, and all the characters in this timeless classic, as well as the beautiful costumes of the Snow Queen, Snow Maidens and Sugar Plum Fairy, have been illustrated by Rajka Kupesic and integrated into her finished paintings for this book written by Karen Kain.

Karen Kain performed The Nutcracker many times during her 26 years as Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.

The Nutcracker has become an annual holiday tradition around the world since its first showing in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.  It is the most well attended event in the world of ballet today. 

Rajka Kupesic has done the paintings for several children’s books including Claire’s Gift, which was awarded the Mr. Christie’s Book Award for Best Children’s book in 2000, a new edition of the Canadian classic Maria Chapdelaine, which she was nominated for the Governor General’s 2005 Literary Award in the Children’s Literature – Illustration category. 

Rajka was classically trained as a ballerina, and danced for many years in Europe while developing her art.  Her incomparable style has enchanted art lovers across Canada, the United States, and Europe.  Her work has been featured in magazines in France, Canada, and Japan.  Her paintings hang in museums in addition to many important private and public collections around the world, including former Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Pierre Elliot Trudeau, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Corporate Collection), Oscar Peterson, and Musee d’art naïf de l’lle-de-France, just to name a few.

Snow Queen

Waltz of the Flowers

Four of Kupesic’s paintings from The Nutcracker will be published as limited edition giclées by Bremner Fine Art and released in the fall of 2005. To view Kupesic’s limited edition giclées and serigraphs, visit www.bremnerfineart.com.

To read a brief biography on Kupesic and view her images published by Northland Art, Search our Gallery by Artist.