Jules De Bruycker - Frans Masereel in his studio

Frans Masereel (31 July 1889 – 3 January 1972) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

painter and graphic artist who worked mainly in France, known especially for his

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s focused on political and social issues, such as

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

. He completed over 40 wordless novels in his career, and among these, his greatest is generally said to be '' Passionate Journey''. Masereel's woodcuts influenced

Lynd Ward Lynd Kendall Ward (June 26, 1905 – June 28, 1985) was an American artist and novelist, known for his series of wordless novels using wood engraving, and his illustrations for juvenile and adult books. His wordless novels have influenced ...

and later graphic artists such as

Clifford Harper Clifford Harper (born 13 July 1949 in Chiswick, West London) is a worker, illustrator, and militant anarchist. He wrote ''Anarchy: A Graphic Guide'' in 1987. He is a long-term contributor to ''The Guardian'' newspaper and many other publications. ...

, Eric Drooker, and

Otto Nückel Otto Nückel (Cologne, 6 September 1888 – Cologne, 12 November 1955) was a German painter, graphic designer, illustrator and cartoonist. He is best known as one of the 20th century's pioneer wordless novelists, along with Frans Masereel and Ly ...

Biography

Upbringing

Frans Masereel was born in the Belgian coastal town Blankenberge on 31 July 1889, and at the age of five, his father died. His mother moved the family to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

in 1896. She met and married a physician with strong Socialist convictions, and the family together regularly protested against the appalling working conditions of the Ghent textile workers.

Education

At the age of 18 he began to study at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

in the class of Jean Delvin. In 1909, he visited England and Germany, which inspired him to make his first

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s and

s. In 1911 Masereel settled in Paris for four years and then emigrated to Switzerland, where he worked as a graphic artist for journals and magazines. MettlachMosaikFuellhornres

Emigre

Masereel could not return to Belgium at the end of World War I because, being a pacifist, he had refused to serve in the Belgian army. Nonetheless, when a circle of friends in Antwerp interested in art and literature decided to found the magazine ''Lumière'', Masereel was one of the artists invited to illustrate the text and the column headings. The magazine was first published in Antwerp in August 1919.Joos Florquin, 'Ten huize van... 1'
Davidsfonds, Leuven / Orion - Desclée De Brouwer, Bruges, 971, pp. 270–299 It was an artistic and literary journal published in French. The magazine's title ''Lumière'' was a reference to the French magazine ''Clarté'', which was published in Paris by

Henri Barbusse Henri Barbusse (; 17 May 1873 – 30 August 1935) was a French novelist and a member of the French Communist Party. He was a lifelong friend of Albert Einstein. Life The son of a French father and an English mother, Barbusse was born in Asnièr ...

. The principal artists who illustrated the text and the column headings in addition to Masereel himself were Jan Frans Cantré,

Jozef Cantré Jozef Cantré (26 December 1890 – 29 August 1957) was a Belgian sculptor and illustrator. He was one of the main artists in the development of the Flemish Expressionism style. Biography Jozef Cantré was born in Ghent in 1890, four years after ...

, Henri van Straten, and

Joris Minne Joris Minne (Ostend, 1897 – Antwerp, 1988) was a Belgian sculptor, graphic artist, illustrator and painter who helped revive the art of engraving in Belgium.Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

in early 20th-century Belgium. In 1921 Masereel returned to Paris, where he painted his famous street scenes, the Montmartre paintings. He lived for a time in Berlin, where his closest creative friend was George Grosz. After 1925 he lived near

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

, where he painted predominantly coast areas, harbour views, and portraits of sailors and fishermen. During the 1930s his output declined. With the Fall of France to the Nazis in 1940 he fled from Paris and lived in several cities in Southern France.

Post-World-War II

At the end of World War II Masereel was able to resume his artistic work and produced woodcuts and paintings. After 1946 he taught at the

Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar The Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar or HBKsaar, (English: ''Saar College of Fine Arts'') is an art and design university in the German State of Saarland. The degree course offers a choice of different topics: Fine arts, communication desi ...

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

. In 1949 Masereel settled in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. Between 1949 and 1968, he published several series of woodcuts that differ from his earlier "novels in picture'" in comprising variations on a subject instead of a narrative. He had also designed decorations and costumes for numerous theatre productions. The artist was honoured in numerous exhibitions and became a member of several academies.

Death

Frans Masereel died in

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

in 1972 and was entombed in Ghent.

Legacy

Influence

Masereel's woodcuts influenced

and later graphic artists such as

George Walker George Walker may refer to: Arts and letters * George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer *George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer * George Walker (illustrator) (1781–1856), author of ''The Co ...

, Clifford Harper, Eric Drooker, and ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * '' The ...

'' cartoonist

Peter Arno Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. (January 8, 1904 – February 22, 1968), known professionally as Peter Arno, was an American cartoonist. He contributed cartoons and 101 covers to ''The New Yorker'' from 1925, the magazine's first year, until 1968, the ...

. Masereel's woodcut series, mainly of sociocritical content and

expressionistic Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

in form, made Masereel internationally known. Among them were the

wordless novel The wordless novel is a narrative genre that uses sequences of captionless pictures to tell a story. As artists have often made such books using woodcut and other relief printing techniques, the terms woodcut novel or novel in woodcuts are ...

s ''

25 Images of a Man's Passion ''25 Images of a Man's Passion'', or ''The Passion of a Man'' is the first wordless novel by Flemish artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972), first published in 1918 under the French title . The silent story is about a young working-class man wh ...

'' (1918), '' Passionate Journey'' (1919), '' The Sun'' (1919), '' The Idea'' (1920), '' Story Without Words'' (1920), and '' Landscapes and Voices'' (1929). At that time Masereel also drew illustrations for famous works of world literature by

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

, and Stefan Zweig. He also produced a series of illustrations for the classic '' Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak'' by his fellow Belgian Charles De Coster; these illustrations followed the book in its translations to numerous languages.

Namesakes

The cultural organization

Masereelfonds The Masereelfonds, named after Frans Masereel, is a Flemish non-profit cultural organization, for the promotion and support of the Dutch language in Flanders (northern Belgium). It is one of a family of five cultural organizations in Flanders, such ...

was named after him, as was the Frans Masereel Centre studio facility at

Kasterlee Kasterlee () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Kasterlee proper, Lichtaart and Tielen. In 2021, Kasterlee had a total population of 19,052. The total area is 71.56 km2. Th ...

List of works

Graphic novels

Woodcut graphic novels

These woodcut collections form entire, seamless

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

with their own, independent narrative. *''

'' / ''The Passion of a Man'' (''25 Images de la Passion d'un Homme'' / ''Die Passion Eines Menschen'', 1918) *'' Passionate Journey'' / ''My Book of Hours'' (''Mon Livre d'Heures'' / ''Mein Stundenbuch'', 1919)
Archive.org
*'' The Sun'' (''Le Soleil'' / ''Die Sonne'', 1919) *''Political Drawings'' (''Dessins Politiques'' / ''Politische Zeichnungen'', 1920)
Archive.org
*'' Story Without Words'' (''Histoire Sans Paroles'' / ''Geschichte ohne Worte'', 1920) *'' The Idea'' (''L'Idée'' / ''Die Idee'', 1920) *'' The City'' (''La Ville'' / ''Die Stadt'', 1925)
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*''The Industrial Baron'' (''Die Industriebaron'', 1925) *''Figures and Grimaces'' (''Figures et Grimaces'' / ''Gesichter und Fratzen'', 1926) *''The Work'' (''L’œuvre'', ''Das Werk'', 1928) *''Landscapes and Voices'' (''Landschaften und Stimmungen'', 1929)
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*''The Mermaid'' (''La Sirène'', 1932) *''From Black to White'' (''Du Noir au Blanc'' / ''Von Schwarz zu Weiss'', 1939) *''Dance of Death'' (''Danse Macabre'', 1941) *''June '40'' (''Juin 40'', 1942) *''Destinies 1939-1940-1941-1942'' (''Destins 1939-1940-1941-1942'', 1943) *''Earth under the sign of Saturn'' (''La Terre sous le signe de Saturne'', 1944) *''Remember!'' (1946) *''Angel'' (''Engel'', 1947) *''Phenomena'' (''Erscheinungen'', 1947) *''Ages of life'' (''Les Âges de la Vie'', 1948) *''Youth'' (''Jeunesse'', 1948) *''Ecce Homo'' (1949) *''Key to Dreams'' (''Clef des songes'', 1950) *''Our Times'' (''Notre Temps'', 1952) *''The apocalypse of our time'' (''Die Apokalypse unserer Zeit'', 1953) *''Why?'' (''Pour quoi?'', 1954) *''My book of images'' (''Mon livre d'images'', 1956) *''My country'' (''Mon Pais'', 1956) *''Night Adventure'' (''Aventure nocturne'', 1958) *''Night and his Daughters'' (''La Nuit et ses Filles'', 1959) *''China Memories'' (''Erinnerungen an China'', 1961) *''Stations'' (''É'talges'', 1961) *''From Decay to Triumph'' (''Vom Verfall zum Triumph'', 1961) *''Poets'' (''Poètes'', 1963) *''The face of Hamburg'' (''Das Gesicht Hamburgs'' / ''Le visage de Hambourg'', 1964) *''The road of men'' (''Der weg der menschen'', ''Route des hommes'', 1964) *''Couples'' (1965) *''My home'' (''Meine Heimat'', 1965) *''Antwerp'' (''Antwerpen'', 1968) *''Hands'' (''Mains'', 1968) *''Vice and passion'' (''Laster und Leidenschaft'', 1968) *''I love black and white'' (''Ik houd van zwart en wit'', 1970) *''Pictures against the war'' (''Bilder gegen den Krieg'', 1981) *''Woodcuts against the war'' (''Holzschnitte gegen den Krieg'', 1989)

Brush and ink graphic novels

*''Grotesque Film'' (''Groteskfilm'', 1921) *''Pictures of the Big City'' (''Bilder der Grossstadt'' / ''Images de la grande ville'', 1926) *''Capital'' (''Capitale'', 1935) *''Wrath'' (''La Colère'', 1946)

Illustrator

*''The Days of the Curse'' (''Die Tage des Fluches''), by

Marcel Martinet Marcel Martinet (Dijon, 22 August 1887 – Saumur, 18 February 1944) was a French pacifist socialist revolutionary militant and a Proletarian literature, prolétarian writer. Life Martinet, a Communist and pacifist, opposed the First World War from ...

(1914-1916) *''Hôtel-Dieu, Récits d'Hôpital'' (Hôtel-Dieu, Hospital Stories) by

Pierre Jean Jouve Pierre Jean Jouve (11 October 1887 – 8 January 1976) was a French writer, novelist and poet.Michael Sheringham, 'Jouve, Pierre-Jean', ''Oxford Companion to French Literature''Onlineat answers.com He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Litera ...

(1915) *''Quinze Poemes'' (Fifteen Poems) by

Émile Verhaeren Émile Adolphe Gustave Verhaeren (; 21 May 1855 – 27 November 1916) was a Belgian poet and art critic who wrote in the French language. He was one of the founders of the school of Symbolism and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Lit ...

(1917) *''Pierre und Luce'' (''Pierre and Luce''; sometimes translated as ''Peter and Luce'') by

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production a ...

(1918) *'' Calamus: Poèmes'' (''Calamus: Poems'', a section from

Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. Though it was first published in 1855, Whitman spent most of his professional life writing and rewriting ''Leaves of Grass'', revising it multiple times until his death. T ...

), by

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

(1919) *''Die Mutter'' (The Mother) by

Leonhard Frank Leonhard Frank (4 September 1882 in Würzburg – 18 August 1961 in Munich) was a German expressionist writer. He studied painting and graphic art in Munich, and gained acclaim with his first novel ''The Robber Band'' (1914, tr. 1928). When a Ber ...

(1919) *''Heures'' (''Hours'') by

(1919) *''Bübü vom Montparnasse'' (Bubu of Montparnasse) by

Charles-Louis Philippe Charles-Louis Philippe (4 August 1874 – 21 December 1909) French novelist, was born in Cérilly, Allier, Auvergne, on 4 August 1874, and died in Paris on 21 December 1909. Life Son of a village clogmaker, Charles-Louis Philippe rose from ...

(1920)
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*''Das Gemeinsame'' (''The Common'') by René Arcos (1920) *''Les Poètes contre la Guerre'' (''The Poets Against War'') by

Georges Duhamel Georges Duhamel (; ; 30 June 1884 – 13 April 1966) was a French author, born in Paris. Duhamel trained as a doctor, and during World War I was attached to the French Army. In 1920, he published '' Confession de minuit'', the first of a serie ...

Charles Vildrac Charles Vildrac (November 22, 1882 – June 25, 1971), born "Charles Messager",''1971 Britannica Book of the Year'' (for events of 1971), "Obituaries 1971" article, page 532, "Vildrac, Charles" item was a French libertarian playwright, poet a ...

and

(1920) *''The Eternal Jew'' (''Der Ewige Jude'', 1921)
Archive.org
by

August Vermeylen August Vermeylen (12 May 1872, in Brussels – 10 January 1945, in Uccle) was a Belgian writer and literature critic. In 1893 he founded the literary journal ''Van Nu en Straks'' (''Of Today and Tomorrow''). He studied history at the Free Univers ...

*''Le Travailleur étrange et autres récits'' (''The Strange Worker and Other Stories'') by

(1921) *''Peter und Lutz'' (''Peter and Lutz'') by

(1921)
Archive.org
*''La révolte des machines, ou la Pensée Déchainée'' (''The Revolt of Machines or the Mind Unbound'', republished in 1947 as in Dutch as ''De opstand der machines, of Het losgebroken intellect'') by

(1921)
Archive.org
*''Quelque Coins du Coeur'' by

(1921) *''The good Madeleine and the poor Marie'' (''Die gute Madeleine und die arme Marie''), by

(1922) *''Fairfax'' by Carl Sternheim (1922) *''Cygne de Rabindranath Tagore'' (''Swan of Rabindranath Tagore'') by Kâlidâs Nâg and

(1923) *''Fünf Erzählungen'' (''Five Tales'') by

(1924)
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*''Liluli'' by

(1924) *''Prière'' (''Pray'') by

(1924) *''Jean-Christophe'' (''Johann Christof'') by

(1925) *''Thyl Ulenspiegel'' by Charles de Coster (1926) *''Kerstwake'' by

Stijn Streuvels Stijn Streuvels (3 October 1871, Heule, Kortrijk - 15 August 1969, Ingooigem, Anzegem), born Franciscus (Frank) Petrus Maria Lateur, was a Flemish Belgian writer. Biography He started writing at a very young age. He was inspired by his uncle, ...

(1928) *''Swane'' (''Swans'') by Emmanuel De Bom (1928) *''Der Zwang. Phantastische Nacht'' (''The Force. Fantastic night'') by Stefan Zweig (1929) *''Im Strom der Zeit: Gedichte'' (''In the Stream of Time: Poems'') by Ernst Preczang (1929) *''Das Bein der Tiennette und andere Erzählungen'' (''Tiennette's leg and other stories'') by

(1929) *''De man zonder lijf'' (''The Man Without a Body'') by

Herman Teirlinck Herman Louis Cesar Teirlinck (Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, 24 February 1879 – Beersel-Lot, 4 February 1967) was a Belgian writer. He was the fifth child and only son of Isidoor Teirlinck and Oda van Nieuwenhove, who were both teachers in Brussels. As a ...

(1937) *''Ode a la France Meurtrie'' (''Ode to the Dead France'') by Louis Piérard (1940) *''Jugement'' (''Judgment'') by

Agrippa d'Aubigné Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné (, 8 February 155229 April 1630) was a French poet, soldier, propagandist and chronicler. His epic poem ''Les Tragiques'' (1616) is widely regarded as his masterpiece. In a book about his Catholic contemporary Jean de ...

(1941) *''La légende d’Ulenspiegel'' (''The Glorious Adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegl'') by Charles de Coster (1943) *''Die Nacht'' (''The Night'') by Rudolf Hagelstange (1955) *''Vater Perdrix'' by

(1960) *''Du bist für alle Zeit geliebt. Gedichte'' (''You're Loved Forever. Poems'') by Johannes R. Becher (1960) *''Vom Verfall zum Triumph'' (''From Decline to Triumph'') by Johannes R. Becher (1961) *''Moriae Encomium: Or The Praise Of Folly'' by

Desiderius Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

(1965) *''Dolle Dinsdag'' (''Crazy Tuesday'') by

Theun de Vries Theunis Uilke (Theun) de Vries (26 April 1907 – 21 January 2005), was a Dutch writer and poet. Life De Vries was born in the Frisian town of Feanwâlden. His parents moved to Apeldoorn in 1920. In 1936 he joined the Communist Party of the N ...

(1967) *''

Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...

'' (''The Flowers of Evil'') by

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

(1977) *''

The Ballad of Reading Gaol ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'' is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile in Berneval-le-Grand, after his release from Reading Gaol () on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecency with other m ...

'' by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

(1978)

Animation

* ''The Idea'' (''L'Idée'') (1932) : collaboration with

Berthold Bartosch Berthold Bartosch (29 December 1893 – 13 November 1968) was a film-maker, born in Polaun, in the Bohemia region of Austria-Hungary (now part of the Czech Republic). Work with Lotte Reiniger He moved to Berlin in 1920 and collaborated with Lo ...

on an animated adaptation.

Works published in journals

* Woodcuts in ''Demain'' (1916) and ''Les Tablettes'' (1916-1919). * Drawings in ''La Feuille'' (1917-1920).

Art collections

These woodcut collections cover various aspects of their subject material.

Solo collections

*''Arise Ye Dead: The Infernal Resurrection'' (''Debout les Morts: Résurrection infernale'', 1917) -- A collection of 10, anti-war woodcuts. *''The Dead Speak'' (''Les Morts Parlent'', 1917) -- A collection of 7, anti-war woodcuts.

Mixed collections

*''1925: An Almanac for Art and Poetry'' (''1925: Ein Almanach für Kunst und Dichtung''), published by Kurt Wolff Verlag

References

Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist. Michael Maslin. Regan Arts, New York. 2016

External links

Frans Masereel Foundation site

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080705203321/http://www.nebulous-cargo.com/masereel/ Nebulous Cargo - an observant walk through modern ruinsbr>Frans Masereel Centre, Artist in Residence - Belgium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masereel, Frans 1889 births 1972 deaths Belgian painters Belgian printmakers Belgian graphic novelists 20th-century engravers Flemish engravers Modern painters Modern printmakers 20th-century novelists Belgian woodcarvers Belgian wood engravers Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent) alumni Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar faculty Writers from Ghent Belgian pacifists