Otto Nückel (

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, 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 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 ...

ists, along with

Frans Masereel Frans Masereel (31 July 1889 – 3 January 1972) was a Flemish painter and graphic artist who worked mainly in France, known especially for his woodcuts focused on political and social issues, such as war and capitalism. He completed over ...

and

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 ...

Life

Nückel, who had exhibited skill as an artist in his childhood, dropped out of medical school in Freiburg im Breisgau and moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

where he resided for the remainder of his life. There he developed his skill in drawing and painting, joining the artists' association, the Munich Sezession, and developing an interest in

relief printing Relief printing is a family of printing methods where a printing block, plate or matrix, which has had ink applied to its non-recessed surface, is brought into contact with paper. The non-recessed surface will leave ink on the paper, whereas t ...

. Because of the scarcity of wood, Nückel made

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s for relief prints on

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

plates. A pioneer in lead engraving, Nückel developed an accomplished mastery of this medium, distinguished by ample use of the multiple-line tool. He illustrated works 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 novell ...

, E. T. A. Hoffmann and others before garnering considerable attention with his own publication '' Destiny: A story in pictures'' (''Schicksal. Eine Geschicte in Bildern.'' Munich: Delphin Verlag, 1930). This wordless novel highlights the life and suffering of a female protagonist as a vehicle for a dark social critique. Much of Nückel's work favors dark comedy, profound irony and an often scathing sarcasm. Nückel's series of "Studio Visits" (''Atelierbesuche'') to studios from Ensor to Bosch were famous. Nückel earned his living as an illustrator and cartoonist. He was a contributor to the satirical magazines ''

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel Simplicius Simplicissimus and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a satirical German weekly magazine, headquartered in Munich, and founded by Albert Langen in April 1896. It continue ...

'' and ''Simpl'', fantasy magazine '' Der Orchideengarten'', Sennewald, Adolf. ''Deutsche Buchillustratoren im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts.'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1999, (pp. 138-140) and to children's periodical ''Ping-Pong''. New editions of ''Destiny'' have been published in the US by Dover and in France under the title 'Destin' in 2005 (Éditions IMHO, Paris) and in 2021 (Éditions Ici-bas, Toulouse).

Work

As illustrator

Nückel provided illustrations for these books, among others: * A. M. Frey, ''Solneman der Unsichtbare'' (woodcuts), Delphin Verlag, München, 1914 * A. M. Frey, ''Spuk des Alltags'' (woodcuts), Delphin Verlag, München, 1920 * Thomas Mann, ''Der kleine Herr Friedemann'' (woodcuts), Phantasus-Verlag, München, 1920 * Clemens Brentano, ''Das Märchen vom Schulmeister Klopfstock'' (wood engravings), Freitag-Verlag, München. 1947 * Stefan Andres, ''Vom heiligen Pfäfflein Domenico'' (wood engravings), Paul List Verlag, München, 1966

As author/illustrator

* Otto Nückel. Eine Würdigung von Willy Seidel. München 1930

Exhibitions

* Lenbachhaus, München 1956 * Berufsverband bildender Künstler, München 1965 * EP Galerie, Düsseldorf 2005

References

External links

Otto Nückel in the German National Library catalogue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuckel, Otto German satirists German cartoonists German engravers German printmakers German graphic designers 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German comics artists 1888 births 1955 deaths 20th-century German novelists