Joseph Eduard Adolf Spier (26 June 1900 – 21 May 1978) was a popular Dutch

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

Life

Jo Spier was born in

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 1 ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. From 1924 to 1939 Jo Spier worked for the newspaper ''

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; en, The Telegraph) is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, '' de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief s ...

'' where he created humorous illustrations and cartoons about everyday life. He also worked as a

courtroom sketch A courtroom sketch is an artistic depiction of the proceedings in a court of law. In many jurisdictions, cameras are not allowed in courtrooms in order to prevent distractions and preserve privacy. This requires news media to rely on sketch a ...

artist and theater review artist for them. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

his subject matter became more

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and he was arrested for his satirical depiction of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

. He was first sent to the camp at

Westerbork Camp Westerbork ( nl, Kamp Westerbork, german: Durchgangslager Westerbork, Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk'' ), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, ...

, then to Villa Bouchina with his wife and three children. For a period of a few months in 1943 they were protected from transport to German concentration camps, supposedly due to the influence of the leader of the pro-German Nationaal Socialistische Beweging, Anton Mussert. On 21 April 1943 Spier was transferred to the

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

, where he was held with his family until the end of the war. During his internment in Theresienstadt, Spier also cooperated with the Germans by assisting with the film '' Theresienstadt, ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebied''.

Emigration and death

Jo Spier moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1951 with his family and continued to work until the end of his life. Spier died in Santa Fe, New Mexico on 21 May 1978.

Family

Jo Spier was married to Albertine Sophie "Tineke" van Raalte and they had three children, Peter Spier, Thomas Spier (DDS), and Celine Spier. Peter Spier was also a noted illustrator of children's books.

Books illustrated by Jo Spier

*''The Creation'', text from Genesis, hand-lettered by Joseph P Ascherl, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1970. *''The Squirrel and the Harp'', by David DeJong, New York: Macmillan, 1966. *''The Spice Cookbook'', by Avanelle Day and Lillie Stuckey, David White Company, 1964 *''Waters of the New World: Houston to Nantucket'', by

Jan de Hartog Jan de Hartog (April 22, 1914 – September 22, 2002) was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker. Biography Early years Jan de Hartog was born to a Dut ...

, New York: Atheneum, 1961. *''Peter Stuyvesant of Old New York'', by Anna Crouse and Russel Crouse, New York: Random House, 1954. *''The Story of Louis Pasteur'', by Alida Sims Malkus, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1952. *''One Sky to Share: The French and American Journals of Raymond Leopold Bruckberger'', New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1952. *''Holland's House: a Nation Building a Home'', by Peter Bricklayer, Haarlem, Netherlands: Joh. Enschede En Zonen, 1939. *''Mijn Jordanertjes : kinderen, die ik gekend heb'', by A van Vlaardingen, Utrecht: Bijleveld, 1931. * Godfried Bomans: ''Kopstukken''. Ill. Jo Spier. Amsterdam, Brussel, Elsevier 1947 etc. (27th pr., 1987)

Bibliography

*''Dat alles heeft mijn oog gezien. Herinneringen aan het concentratiekamp Theresienstadt 1942–1945''. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1978. * ''The Marshall Plan and You''. The Hague, Netherlands, Ministry of Economic Affairs, 1949

About Jo Spier

*''Peter van Straaten & Jo Spier. Virtuoze tekenaars van het Nederlandse leven''. Persmuseum Amsterdam, 2012. No ISBN *''Jo Spier. Tekenaar van een tijdperk'' Samenst. door G.E. van Baarsel. Stedelijk Museum Zutphen, 2000. *Jo Spier: ''Album''. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1957. No ISBN *Michel van der Plas: ''Vader en moeder''. Baarn, Bosch& Keuning, 1987. (Interviews with children of famous parents, a.o. Peter Spier)

Sources

External links

Jo Spier
presented at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spier, Jo 1900 births 1978 deaths Dutch Jews Dutch illustrators Dutch cartoonists Dutch caricaturists Jewish artists Bookbinders Courtroom sketch artists People from Zutphen Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors Dutch emigrants to the United States